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riverside edit guv talking town studio (1): Bournemouth are seventh in the Premier League. They've won six games in a row in all competitions. They've now kept three consecutive Premier League clean sheets. So great timing, Ipswich. But there's one thing that makes Sunday fascinating. Before Bournemouth arrive at Portman Road, they've got to go to Prague on Thursday night in the Europa League. So just how good are Marco Rose's Bournemouth right now? And can Europe give Ipswich an opportunity? Hello again, friends, and you are my friends. Welcome back to Talking Town. Great to have you back here with me. Hit that subscribe button. Because up next, British Town, it's Bournemouth at Portman Road on Sunday afternoon. Don't forget, Town Pulse now open. Give us your 11 score predictions and how confident you are heading in. And we'll use all of those on Friday's preview show as Bournemouth roll into town and this Bournemouth side sitting seventh in the Premier League after nine games arrives in serious form. But they're also adapting to a new Manager playing European football for the first time and facing a Thursday to Sunday turnaround before they come to Suffolk. So, what exactly are Itchist Town walking into? Well, to tell us, I'm delighted to welcome Craig from the AFC Bournemouth supporters channel. Craig, welcome to Talking Town and let's start with that form. Because the season didn't start like it currently is. A new manager arrives, and early on you kept getting into winning positions and And you couldn't finish games off. In fact, you became the first Premier League side to score first in each of your opening three games without winning any of them. And now six wins in a row in all competitions. So Craig, what exactly has changed? I think it's tactical. We had a very, very, very good preseason and of course lost Andonia to Liverpool. I couldn't see how it was gonna be easy this season. I thought it was gonna be a bit of a struggle in the Premier League. we was hoping we could do something in Europe, but it was that big underlying factor. And only the man that got us to sixth had finally left the club and Marco Rosa, it gave us lots of optimism in in the the off season. And then the season kicked off and we played very, very well against Man City. As you say, got ourselves into a winning position. And then got pegged back and eventually lost the game. Everton, same happened. Got ourselves ahead, pegged back right at the death. Newcastle, we went even further ahead, got pegged back. What we were doing was we were sitting too far deep. And AFC Bournemouth aren't used to play in that way. When we was 1-0 up against Man City, we sat deep, we sat verb and invited the pressure on to the us. It's not the way we play, but I think the biggest turning point for us is that Chelsea defeat. That 5-1 defeat by Chelsea. And it's kind of shot the players up the backside. We're not playing defensively anymore. You know, we tried it for five minutes against Sunderland when Sunderland were down to ten men and it looked like we were going to be vulnerable. and Marco Rosa flipped from that straight away. And we're now six unbeaten in all competitions. You know, some very convincing score lines in there. 3-0 against Man United, 3-0 against AC Milan, 3-0 against the Rats, 2-0 against Leeds. You know, I'm gonna miss one out because I tell you what, it's been such a really, really, really good spell. But the biggest point is that we're not conceding at all. So Marco Rosa has improved stuff improved us defensively. Yeah, and obviously for t yeah, for Towns Baza to perhaps don't watch a lot of Bournemouth. You've you've got a new manager and we're and we're used to seeing a a certain style from from Bournemouth, a a a DNA of of pressing aggressively, attacking quickly. You mentioned there that you've gone more you've you've tightened up defensively. Has he managed to keep that Bournemouth DNA if and add his own spin to it? It's not as intense as under Andoni Ariola, but it's still that high press, that high push. You know, we're still always playing on the front foot. So whilst yes, the intensity might not be there and we've had to manage a lot of games as well. In fact we were looking at This spell of the fixture list between the last international break and the international break coming up after this game, we was looking at and going, there's about a game every three days. how are we gonna cope? We've coped really well by the rotation of players, but also that high press, it isn't as intense, but it's still there, it's still effective. And, you know, to be attack is the best form of defense for us. It has been for so so long now. you know, that's what we're used to from Bournemouth. Yeah, exactly, mate. Exactly. And I think it's been very, very, very impressive. And you mentioned and and I might be hearing you wrong, and if I am, please do pull me up on it. But I yeah, you defensively didn't quite work for you. But you've also but so so you've gone the other way, but you've tightened up. So tactically, how has Marco Rosa done that? And I know you say attack's the best form of defence, but still to not leave yourself wide open, to keep these clean sheets, get on this role. What tactically has changed? Well You've got the two defensive midfielders just in front of the defense as well. Now, what they were doing during that spell where we were conceding at the death, we were still playing really, really well in some of those games. I can't take that away from the team. Those two defensive midfielders were going so, so deep, and they were going effectively into that back line. Whereas what they're doing now is they're breaking up the play a lot more, as we used to, which was the trademark. From ourselves. But also, I'm thinking Antonio Silva, who admittedly had an awful game against Chelsea, he's been a real standout player for us. So I think we've got to let him off that one poor, poor performance because
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he's been solid otherwise. Adam Smith he rolls back the years, he is very, very, very defensively astute. What Adam Smith is doing now, and this is what has really improved, and I think it improved under Andonian, it's in improved even further under Marco is he's actually stepping back. He's waiting for that attacker to make their move or that winger to make their move. And then he can read the game so well and that's been coached so well into him that he's making that blocking run. If he gets into a bit of trouble, then Antonio Silva or James Hill can then move across and help him out. So defensively a lot has been worked on that. Adrian Trafair Has been absolutely brilliant this season. We've got players in reserve who A are making the step up for the Europa League games, the Cup games, but are also putting the pressure on players like Adam Smith, DeGresciario, who we signed on loan from Juventus. He's actually keeping Jordi Petrovic, you know, under pressure. And that's a good thing as a squad. Yeah, and that's exactly where I was going next, because it brings us neatly now to the weekend. And the Leeds game. And it tells us quite a lot, I feel, about where Bournemouth preps are. 2-0 win on Saturday. Was that an impressive performance? But for yourself. Yeah, that's the that is the biggest thing. Is Leeds come here to try and stop us. They tried to nick a goal, which to be honest, they did have the ball in the back of the net. And Calvert Lewin it it bounced up. To be honest, it was more ball to hand. But Leeds come here to stop us. They come here to play and they are probably one of two of those teams in the Premier League who can play very, very deep, who can play scrappy, the other being Everton, where they really get under your skin. There's a lot of hard tackles going in. They know the dark arts. They will play deep. I think their defensive line is possibly one of the best in the Premier League. And so it's shown with the amount of goals they've conceded. We managed to break that up. We managed to outplay them. We managed to Tyler Adams had a fantastic game. An absolutely fantastic game. And of course he played get for leads as well. So honestly, it might not have looked the greatest performance by AFC Bournemouth. But still It was a solid, solid performance where we got the job done and we were effective, like I say. And resilient. And resilience is certainly one thing, but individual quality up front is another story entirely. And we need to talk now about Evan Nilsson. You've talked about a number of players, but you've not mentioned the man that scored in five of his last six appearances across all competitions. Just how good is he, Craig? You know what? There's been a lot of people moaning throughout this season. about well ever Nielsen doesn't get enough goals. Football fans known. Never are. Yeah I know. I know. But I tell you what, he is really showing his worth, but not just in the goals that he scores. Evan Nielsen is an interesting sort of strike. He's one of those strikers that will hold the ball up. And I saw, you know, before the game kicked off that he was a vital part of unlocking Leeds. So Leeds very, very good defensively. What I've felt that Evan Nielsen was effective at is he got very, very close to defender and he held the ball up so well. He's a strong lad, he's very he brings other players into play. So a focal point. Yeah, exactly. And actually that is more, important than the goals because he's bringing in Cliver, he's bringing in Rayan, he's bringing Tavernier to actually go and get that goal where he's held up the ball, finds an outlet in the back of the net. his goal yesterday, in all honesty, was part another part of his game is which is the awareness and being switched on. Justin Clover deserves a lot of credit for this as well. James Trafford, I'm not really sure what he was doing, but we had to be there. We had to be alert to make the most of that. And Evan Nilson, again, you know, very, very nicely done. Is he 'cause obviously you play Thursday in Prague. Is is he a player that you you perhaps fear losing the most? From the eleven in terms of how many games you're playing. Yes. We do have Kruppy coming back. He did play thirty minutes, or no, thirty, twenty minutes yesterday. I I'll need to double check that. But in all honesty, I think Evan Nielsen is such a vital part to what we do. Ever Nielsen, you know, is the man that he is the focal point. He is the man that, you know, who will he's so good in that position. He's so good in that position. And when you look at Alvaro Rodriguez, who is a player who in all honesty has got probably similar sort of characteristics as Evan Nielsen. I he's just not up to that level. Ever Nielsen is one of the best at the trades in the Premier League, in my honest opinion. Alright, hold up. We'll get back to the content. ASAP. Before we do, we are partners with Stomar Osteo Paps. Quality CareS it's nineteen eighty five. Give him a call on O one four four nine six one three six three three. That's O one four four nine six one three six three three. Right, back to him. And reason form. But wouldn't argue it against you and and you mentioned Marcus Tavanier there. And in terms of Tavanier, five league goals already. Is this now the best version of him that you that you were seeing as a Bournemouth fan? Yeah. Hundred percent. Hundred percent. Tavanier is electric. He's had to make the step up as well, because of course, alongside Rayan as well on the right hand side, we lost Antoine Semeno last season. And actually, instead of going into you know, Rayan, I've got to say, was absolutely brilliant. But Tavanier has made the step up. He's made a considerable contribute contribution. Let's be honest, he's great from the dead ball situations. He's great at picking out that fantastic shot into the top right hand corner. He is so important at getting that ball into the boxes. He's so important in actually bringing that
ball forwards as well. As is Adrian Trevaire and Adam Smith. I think our attacking line, Turning defense into attack is so so so quick now. And Antoine Semenyo, although I thought we was gonna really miss him, we haven't so much to be honest. So the thing that makes this game completely different, Craig, from a normal Sunday at Portman Road is we're recording this before Thursday. No. So Bournemouth go to Sparta Prague in the Europa League. And you've been brilliant in Europe so far. Three games, three wins, eight scored, one conceded, third in the league phase, and then Thursday night in Prague, you travel home and Sunday at two o'clock, of course, you play at Portman Road. That's roughly sixty seven hours between kickoffs. So how significant is that gonna be? Does Marco Rosa rotate heavily in Prague or with Bournemouth sitting third in Europe? Do you go strong and trying to take control of qualification? How do you see that playing out? I think the game in Czech Republic is gonna be really, really difficult. I think We've still got quite a lot of work to do in Europe, despite how amazing that Milan game was. And it was incredible. Don't get me wrong, you know, it it was it was helped with the g sending off the goalkeeper. But I think what Marco Rosa will do is he will rotate, but there's so much quality that we've got in this squad that I think he can do it. The sort of players that I think will possibly play both matches, Tyler Adams, it wouldn't surprise me. if he plays in both games, both in Prague and Ipswich. I think he's going to be either Ryan Christie or Lewis Cook. those two will be very interchangeable. That man, Evan Nielsen, I think he'll play in both. And Marcus Tavernier, I think, will play in both. And maybe Antonio Silva and James Hill. The rest of the team will rotate. We've got Ben Gannon Doak, who It would be good to actually see him get his first Premier League start. I think he's he's a little terrier and I think, it it might be a case that we actually see him play against Ipswich rather than in Prague. But we've got lots and lots and lots of different options that can come off the bench. Juan Lu Sanchez, he's not actually in the European squad. So will he perhaps play against yourselves? There will be lots of changes, but the players I think that will play both games. Evan Nielsen, Tyler Adams, Marcus Tavanier, James Hill, Antonio Silva. The rest will completely rotate. So despite the rotation that you perhaps expect as a Bournemouth fan, do you do you still feel, you from Lipschitz's perspective, should Gary O'Neill be telling Ipswich, make Sunday physically uncomfortable from minute one because you've had that European away trip? Yes. And of course, I I have got massive respect for Gary O'Neill. He will know, he will have done his homework. I was lucky enough to meet Gary O'Neill as well. He will have studied Bournemouth with several videos. He would have watched the game against Leeds, seen how Leeds effectively did it
against us. He'll no doubt watch the European games as well. So whichever team is put out by ourselves, we have to be ready. And he he'll know that. You know, coming back onto your point with regards to how to make it difficult for us, I think you're spot on. I think You do make it scrappy, you do make it a look uncomfortable, you do make it tricky, for us to play our passing game. That's what Leeds did. But, you know, if you can make that more effective than what Leeds did, which is, you know, might sound a difficult task because of how Leeds are doing, you could well have success against us. I want you to portray the cause a little bit and go deeper with that with that answer but perhaps because if you've watched Bournemouth every week from The recent form to the start of the season form. So if Gary O'Neill gets a hold of your number, Craig, from somewhere and asks, Craig, great to meet you, but where can I hurt Bournemouth the most this weekend? Would you tell him to you play over to play through the press for fullbacks? Where have you been hurt so far this season? I s I I'm gonna apologize to Gary. I'd probably hang up on him because I don't want him to, but But in all honesty, yes. If you know, taking the Bournemouth part out of this, how would you hurt a team that play in exactly the same way as Bournemouth. You would say it's that midfield. Now we've got a fantastic midfield. But if you can block that and Leeds did that to some extent. They did it to some extent. But if you can block that, make it difficult for Tavernear and Rehan to find to be used as outlets. Make it difficult for Tyler Adams. You're gonna have to get close, you're gonna have to get scrappy with him. You could well Have that bit of success. And that is what Gary will be assessing. how do we get under Bournemouth skin? Will you have as many opportunities as us? I think, you know, based on how we're playing and, you know, our high press, it would be surprising, you know, if Ipswitch got more opportunities in front of goal. But again, it it's a case of taking those, you know, getting yourselves into that right position. And Gary will have done all this and studded this. But I think getting into that midfield and blocking that up is probably his and other managers' secret success. I'm just hoping no managers watch this now because at the end of the day they might think, actually, that's the way to stop Bournemouth, Don't be emailing it to mate. Don't worry, I'll be emailing it to Every single one of them on that LMA manager's list, I'll be emailing it to you you you you've perhaps given us the answer in in that answer there, but if we flipped it and said, What's the one thing that Ifchester town can't afford to do in the sense of what can they can't allow Bournemouth to to come to Portman Road and do, would it be win that midfield battle? Yeah, hundred percent. Hundred percent. Give us too much control and we'll take it. as a a good established Premier League side should do.
And and and and in the sense of being an established Premier League side in Europe, having, beaten Ace Melan, all these wonderful results, how are you viewing the trip to Portman Road as a fan base? What's the temperature among Bournemouth fans? I'll tell you what I think most Bournemouth fans are thinking and how most Bournemouth fans will be approaching this. Most Bournemouth fans, and this is no disrespect, will be thinking, well, Ipswich, newly promoted club. We should get the three points there. I'd expect the three points there. And that's no disrespect. However, the way I'm seeing this is Gary's got our number. And against Wolves, you know, and to be fair, this was when Andoni, you know, was very, very new in the job and he was on a bit of a bad run at the start. Gary had the number. You know, you could see what Andoni was trying to do back then. But He got right under us and of course he made it count. Now we've had games since then, but they've always been quite exciting, quite a lot of goals. I'm expecting there to be goals in this game. I'm expecting, even though I think that we'll keep our clean sheet going against Sparta Prague, I expect that to go against yourselves. The reason being is that Gary O'Neill effect. He will he knows exactly what our mentality is. He'll know the players. There's some players in that squad that he's worked with, Adam Smith, Marcus Tavernier, you name them. You know, there's there's players that he's worked with. And he'll know that how to stop AFC Bournemouth is, for example, Cut off Marcus Taverner. So I expect it to be a very, very, very difficult game. You've mentioned you expect goals in this game. You've mentioned rotation from Thursday. So perhaps playing on those I know it won't affect you as much as town fans perhaps are hoping. So it's receipt time now. And the obvious question you get on all preview shows, Craig. Score prediction and first goal score. And we also do a a how confident you are over on our website, my talkintown.com. So I'd love you to tell me out of ten how confident you are. Three questions for you there. So First goal scorer, in my honest opinion, will be Evan Nilson. I think he will play against Sparta Prague. I think he will play against Ipswich. I think his minutes will be managed in both games. I'm gonna go three two. I'm gonna go three two. Five goals riller. Yeah. I of course I'm not gonna bet against my own team. Of course. But I think Ipswich, you're gonna make it difficult for us. I think Gary is gonna be a bit of an Achilles heel. Could you get yourself in front? quite possibly, but I think we've got enough in the tank to actually get ourselves over the line. Prague, absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much for your time. So now we know the opposition. Bournemouth, a side that suddenly looks extremely comfortable under Marco Rosa. Don't forget town pulse now open. My talkin' town dot com. Give us your elevens, how confident you are, your score prediction, who scores first, and we'll use them all live Friday. Match preview at seven PM. How should town attack a Bournemouth side coming off? A European away night only three days earlier. Craig, once again, thank you ever so much. Hit subscribe button. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. God bless you all. And as always, come on you blues. You've reached the end. Thanks for watching. Check out more videos. Subscribe to the channel and I'll see you on the next one.