Nothing to be ashamed of, but still so disappointing. We rode our luck in the first half with the Cherries missing 2 or 3 decent chances, but Armstrong and Smyth were always dangerous running into the space behind the defence.

If only we could have defended better for 15 minutes after half time Bournemouth would have got nervy, but even in the first couple of minutes it looked as though we'd lost our focus. The Bournemouth press functioned very well at times and caused us problems as Dunne is not a ball player and all the defenders were vulnerable. Begovic is very slow to play the ball out and rarely looks further than the CBs. I assume this is what he's told to do by Marti, but it's one dimensional and against decent opposition doesn't get us down the pitch. Surely they can work on more dynamic restarts? The same is true when we have throws or free kicks. Too often the instinct is to go back, so much so that players don't even look for other options.

Having said all this the players who came in did pretty well. Even Dykes on the left of midfield wasn't bad. The first half was great, the second inevitable. Armstrong man of the match. Now to concentrate on the league!

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Nothing to be ashamed of, but still so disappointing. We rode our luck in the first half with the Cherries missing 2 or 3 decent chances, but Armstrong and Smyth were always dangerous running into the space behind the defence.

If only we could have defended better for 15 minutes after half time Bournemouth would have got nervy, but even in the first couple of minutes it looked as though we'd lost our focus. The Bournemouth press functioned very well at times and caused us problems as Dunne is not a ball player and all the defenders were vulnerable. Begovic is very slow to play the ball out and rarely looks further than the CBs. I assume this is what he's told to do by Marti, but it's one dimensional and against decent opposition doesn't get us down the pitch. Surely they can work on more dynamic restarts? The same is true when we have throws or free kicks. Too often the instinct is to go back, so much so that players don't even look for other options.

Having said all this the players who came in did pretty well. Even Dykes on the left of midfield wasn't bad. The first half was great, the second inevitable. Armstrong man of the match. Now to concentrate on the league!

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Difficult to score some of the players as the performances between 1st and 2nd half were so different. Thought Drewe did ok first half but then got torn apart in the 2nd Before he was subbed.

Armstrong probably had his best game but he did tire in the 2nd half (as did others) which contributed to us not pressing as well as we did in the 1st half and giving Bournemouth a much easier ride.

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Agree with OldPedro about the Game Of Two Halves; thought Larkeche looked the most progressive player in hoops.

I've afraid I've lost patience with Begovic now; for every smart save there's a ricket; didn't use judgement to vary the restarts - two strikers to aim at with the occasional long ball. He's supposed to set an example as a senior player instead he's conflicted with the The Other Business Interests and frankly - surely - must know better than to guest on a Chelsea podcast. You just don't do that if you want to inspire the youngsters and get fans on your side. Here for the pension, not for the future. Smithies anyone?

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