By Dan Davis (@dan_davis20)
AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has emphasised his belief that the Cherries’ results will soon start to improve after their latest Premier League defeat, this time a narrow away loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Howe’s men found themselves on the back foot for the majority of the game at Wembley Stadium, and their stern resistance was eventually broken by Christian Eriksen in the 47th minute, who drilled home after some neat combination play. The home side could have added to the score line, if not for a man of the match performance from Bournemouth shot stopper and summer signing, Asmir Begovic.
But despite another league defeat, the Cherries boss felt his team had positives to take back to the south coast: “It was a really tight game for long periods.
“I felt the game plan delivered what we wanted to deliver, which was to congest the centre of the pitch to make it difficult for them to find clear gaps.
“The one moment they were able to get through the middle of us was the goal and apart from that we created chances as well. There are positives to take.”
Howe brought on former Tottenham player, Jermain Defoe, and Jordon Ibe on the 75th minute and the two players almost made an instant impact, with the former testing Hugo Lloris with a low driven effort.
But it wasn’t to be for Howe’s men, and they once again returned to the Vitality Stadium empty-handed. Bournemouth have only picked up maximum points once this season, against newly promoted Brighton, with the rest of the games ending in a stalemate and defeats for the Cherries.
The fixture list doesn’t get any easier for the south coast side, with an away trip to the bet365 stadium against Stoke City on Saturday 21st October to prepare for.
Eddie Howe expressed his frustrations at his side’s form, but drew on the positives after a tough run of games:
“It’s one of the toughest things in football, to give the positives when the results aren’t going well and that’s the stage we’re in.
“We have to consider who we’re playing and if the performances continue in that trend we’ll win matches.
“We have to keep doing the right things and what we believe in.”