Organised chaos at Anfield.........
Aug 19, 2023
Premier League: Liverpool- Bournemouth (written and sent to subscribers on Thursday)
I spoke about what I saw as Liverpool's defensive problems in the League winner notes (Wednesday last week) ..........Liverpool have done no further business of note and overall not addressed those defensive issues which cost them 47 goals last season and to be honest, they were fortunate it was only that many. In the middle of that backline Virgil van Dijk is not the player he was, is now 32 yo and at times shirked his duties IMO. Ibrahima Konate doesn't play up to his height and size and he, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez, can be termed injury prone. There is only one real RB at the club and great offensive player that he is and incredibly fun to watch, Trent Alexander-Arnold cannot defend and call me old fashioned, but that should be a prerequisite for a full back.
The Reds opened with a 1-1 draw at Chelsea, they started well, led, might have been two up, a second goal was rightly disallowed by VAR but was a very tight decision. Eventually the Blues took charge and created more and better opportunities , with 5 BC's and the concerns about Liverpool remain, they look good up top, have improved midfield and then we have the defence!
I was firmly in the Bournemouth camp in preseason and was ok with their opening day draw with West Ham at the Vitality, they grew into it and were always going to take time to get up to speed with how Andoni Iraola (pictured) wants to play, as it is so high octane, with his "organised chaos" philosophy. But I am confident they will get there and be better this week after another 7 days with the coaching staff and that game under their belt. However, Anfield is a tough place to visit and hanging over this game like the Sword of Damocles is the result last season which saw Liverpool win this fixture 9-0. I see that as less of a problem than some, Iraola and Scott Parker are very different animals and only three starters from the game 12 months ago, started last week. I expect the real new Cherries to begin to show up and would not totally rule out the upset, but feel the best value here is with .............
2.25 units both teams to score 1.80 asian line, as good as Liverpool were at home last season, they have conceded in 12 of 21 EPL starts at Anfield and opened 22/23 with a 1-1 draw with Palace.
Good luck!
AFC Bournemouth.......written July 26th
The Cherries were favourites with everyone for the drop last season, their first back in the top flight and with a pretty much Championship level squad at best, not much changed in that regard after they lost 9-0 early at Anfield and manager Scott Parker was dismissed and replaced by Gary O'Neill. Firstly on an interim basis, he later got the job full time and guided Bournemouth to 15th place, playing very well at times and pretty much securing safety with 5-6 weeks of the season remaining, way beyond expectations. His reward, the sack!
He was Immediately replaced by Andoni Iraola who had allowed his contract at Rayo Vallecano to expire and who was being courted by a number of clubs. Owner Bill Foley said: It wasn’t about Gary, it was about a different opportunity."We just felt that to be as successful as we believe we can be in the transfer market and we are going to change the style of football that we played, then we needed to go a different direction."I don't feel good about it, I don't feel happy about having someone move on from a position within our club."It was not just my decision, it was a decision made by football management and we all separately came to the same conclusion. "So it was a unanimous decision amongst us all and I don't want to be viewed as one of these owners that fires people and goes on and fires them again."That is not our plan. Our plan is to go with this coach and give him every opportunity to be successful."If it means that we are relegated at the end of the season because of a mistake, then I will live with it. That is reality."
That highlighted line feels very important, so let's see what they change and who they bring in. Iraola comes from Gipuzkoa, a tiny province in the north of Spain, just 2,000 sq km, yet he is the 4th current EPL head coach to hail from there, along with Arteta, Emery and Lopetegui, which is just crazy! He is a student, an intelligent man, very into his analytics, playing with relentless pressure, a high block and incredibly offensive desire. I loved this quote which I think came from one of his Rayo players, Andoni doesn't park the bus, he takes it on a wild ride!
Hard not to feel compassion for GON, but this feels like the right appointment and Bournemouth had to act fast, or risk losing their man.
I feel genuinely excited by the prospect of watching Bournemouth and how Iraola attacks the EPL, in La Liga, Xavi said Rayo were the "biggest pain in the arse in La Liga".They had the three players with the most high-intensity sprints in Spain, they were #3 for time spent in the opposition half, 2nd for balls into the box, number one for long (and completed long) passes, 4th for chances created. Iraola said he likes to create organised chaos.
Bournemouth have signed AM Hamed Junior Traore from Sassuolo ( so we already like him!). LB Milos Kerkez from AZ, RM Roman Faivre (Lyon), Justin Kluivert (Roma) and goalkeeper Ionut Radu on loan from Inter.
The Cherries did well last season, but where they were weak, is where Vallecano and Iraola were strongest. I watched their second preseason game the other day and the pressing was already not just intense, but high quality, with 5-6 players not in the final third, but in and around the box when the opposition looked to play short and then again in midfield.
We don't just sell football betting tips, as you can see there is an extensive analysis behind our asian handicap selections. Subscribing to our sports betting advice service need not break the bank. Learn more by visiting our subscriptions page.
Country:
Sport:
Competition:
Football Teams: