Everton at Bournemouth: Film Preview

In this series we are going to be taking a look at our upcoming opponent’s last match in the Premier League. The goal is to look at how the team is currently playing to derive some insight into how Everton may attack and what the squad will have to avoid in order to come away with the win.

The thoughts presented below were made as the game occurred and are based on specific events or general trends in the game with some summarizing thoughts on each half and the game as a whole.

AFC Bournemouth beat West Ham United 2-1 away last weekend.

Bournemouth Formation & Lineup

4 - 4 - 2

Begovic

A. Smith - S. Cook - Ake - Daniels

Brooks - Surman - Gosling - Fraser

Wilson - King

Subs – Mousset, Cook, Mings, Ibe, Boruc, Francis, Defoe

1^st Half

Bournemouth is really trying to overload the left side early when they have the ball. Even when West Ham gains possession a lot of the play is down that same side though West Ham seems to have the most success attacking Bournemouth’s right.

The Cherries do well to prevent counters in transition. They get 4 defenders back quickly. Eddie Howe prides himself on having sides that play fast. The forwards are not pressing much, but they do a good job of moving together and preventing the easy square or line pass for West Ham to bypass the striker.

It seems like the goal is for the Bournemouth midfield to pounce on passes from the opposing defense before it reaches the midfield. The strikers moving together limits the passing lanes and allows the midfielders to anticipate the passes.

Bournemouth is getting sucked into crosses pretty badly and it leaves a lot of open space at the top of the box for those late runners.

Dan Gosling is a dirty lad, 4 fouls in 15 minutes led to a yellow card and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him try that against Richarlison on Saturday. Striker is not Bournemouth’s strong suit, wide open from 16-17 yards out and Bournemouth can’t score.

One of the dangers of conceding possession so much is some ‘yakety-sax’ moments in the box. Bournemouth has one and it leads to a penalty and goal for West Ham.

The Hammers are seeing some real success with long balls to their forwards. With Morgan Schneiderlin out again Everton could use this tactic to bypass Bournemouth’s midfield and transition into the attack.

1st Half Thoughts - Bournemouth is going to sit and wait for moments to counter. Even against West Ham they have no interest in possessing the ball and attacking, pretty much everything comes on the counter. But the problem is they don’t have the talent to break down West Ham’s defense so far.

If I’m Marco Silva I’ll look to play down our left against them. West Ham is seeing a lot of success down the right side of Bournemouth’s defense but doesn’t have the quality to make those crosses work.

2nd Half

Bournemouth is much more aggressive in this half and they are a bit more settled. They get rewarded with an excellent move by Wilson to beat five West Ham defenders. Yea, this is mainly a screw-up by West Ham, but Bournemouth had an excellent pass to the forward from a deep midfield position and Wilson took his chance very well.

The speed Bournemouth was missing in the first half is here now. And it causes problems for West Ham and leads to a set piece, which leads to a second and winning goal. Terrible defending at a setpiece for the Hammers, and something for Everton to learn from too as the zonal marking has been an issue for the Toffees so far.

Even though Bournemouth only have four midfielders they are really able to control the midfield against West Ham here. Bournemouth are going to see this one out pretty easily, but West Ham still got some opportunities, they just didn’t have the quality to turn them into real chances.

2nd Half Thoughts - Everton is going to have to apply pressure quickly if they lose the ball in Bournemouth’s half. A lot of West Ham’s problems were because Bournemouth was able to get that outlet pass and start the counter.

Everton are going to have to be careful on set pieces. Bournemouth was dangerous on a lot of theirs and it hasn’t been a strength for the Blues.

Bournemouth can hurt Everton, but as long as the players are aggressive when they lose the ball and look for the holes in the Cherries’ defense they can win. The key is going to be avoiding frustration when Bournemouth cedes possession and not getting caught on the counter.