Fan Focus: What Can Sunderland Expect From Bournemouth? Jon reveals all!

Bournemouth enjoyed a brilliant start to the Premier League – what are the key factors behind this?

Continuity is one of the biggest factors. This is our third season under Andoni and all the players who were at the club prior to this season are very comfortable with what is required of them and are conditioned to play that way.

Some of the new signings have absolutely hit the ground running as well. Ther’s no doubt that Antoine Semnyo setting off this season like a house on fire made a big difference to how good our results were.

Spanish manager Andoni Iraola has attracted vast attention for the job he’s done. What makes him such a good manager?

He has a very clear idea of how he wants his team to play and has not deviated from it in the slightest. He is a philosophy-based manager rather than a systems one, but 4-2-3-1 is the only way you will see him set up.

The players were on-side with his ideas quickly and have only improved over these 3 seasons at carrying out his instructions.

He is also very pro-active when it comes to substitutions and making personnel and tactical changes in game. Bournemouth’s record of goals from substitutes and points from losing positions are testament to that.

After rising to 5th, Bournemouth have failed to win in November, conceding 9 – has anything changed this month?

I don’t think too much has changed apart from Semenyo losing a bit of form, which might infer more about the contribution of the rest of the team than I think is what is happening in reality.

We have come up against some tough opposition, notably Man City and Aston Villa away, and then the West Ham match was very different to what the 2-2 scoreline suggests.

There isn’t any concern in the fan-base right now about our form, but it’s very obvious that we have done far better at home than on the road. If European football is a genuine target then the away results need to improve.

Bournemouth sold Ilias Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Dean Hujsen and Kepa in the summer. Were fans amazed how fast you were able to replace such a great defensive line?

We have reached the point where there is a lot of trust in the recruitment team now.

Like most team, we have signed a fair few duds in the past, but the back room staff are absolutely earning their money at the moment with the players you mentioned above, and the ones brought through the door in this window.

I won’t go through the entire set of incomings, but Truffert has felt like an upgrade on Kerkez, Jimenez is starting to impress and Kroupi has exceeded all expectations for this season within a few games (though he was actually signed in January and returned to Lorient on loan for the rest of last season).

I won’t say they have all been hits per-se, but they are almost all having a positive impact. The defence specifically is not as strong as it was last season, that’s without doubt for me, but for the levels to have only seen a relatively minor drop despite all the change, that’s still very impressive.

It’s crazy to believe Antoine Semenyo wasn’t given more starts at Sunderland during our League One days. What makes him so effective and do you think he’ll stay in January?

It’s easy to look back in hindsight at that, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out for a player. We had Morgan Rogers on loan in the championship! He looked okay but nothing special, now look at him.

He is just such a powerful player; athletically, physically, but that would be ignoring his ability on the ball. Last season it was frustrating seeing the amount of shots he took but with no real idea of what to do with it other than smash it as hard as he could.

This off season he has really worked on placing his shots, and his goal contributions have massively improved as a result. He is good in the air, stronger and faster than most players he comes up against, and now has a much better ability to finish.

He’s the complete package. If Iraola can get him into better positions more frequently then he’ll be in the team of the season come May, and we could well be in Europe.

One player Sunderland were linked with was goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic – how was he started at Bournemouth?

He’s been fine. The first goal for West Ham last weekend was the first real mistake he’s made since joining, but I don’t remember him making any exceptional saves either.

He’s done what has been expected of him and is also very capable on the ball. Pretty much exactly what we needed.

Another was centre-back Bafode Diakite, Bournemouth’s second-highest record signing. How would you summarise his start?

There has been a fair amount of discussion recently as to whether he is actually as starter right now. Veljko Milosavljevic is an 18 year old Serbian who was brought in from Belgrade in the summer and has really impressed in the games he’s played.

Diakite has looked more vulnerable. Physically he’s strong enough for the league, but he hasn’t been as progressive with his passes as we’d like and has been concerning defensively. He’s liable to lose his man both in open play and at set-pieces.

Recently Andoni has been swapping Veljko and Bafode in and out of the backline every other game which I don’t think is helping his confidence. With more time and coaching I think we will see the best of him soon.

Aside from the above-mentioned players, who should Sunderland be wary of?

Bournemouth’s playmaker right now is Marcos Senesi, from centre back. He progresses the ball more than anyone else in the team, mostly through long passes over the top, but he is aggressive, a good defender and a leader for the team.

The big battle of the match for me will be between Scott/Adams and Sadiki/Xhaka. Scott recently got his call up and Adams is the most underrated player in the team for me, a fantastic ball winner who gets it plays it simple to the attackers.

Of the forwards, I’ve already mentioned Kroupi, but I’ve been really enjoying David Brooks performance this season too.

How do you expect Iraola to set up tactically at the Stadium of Light?

It will be the same 4-2-3-1. He will probably hope for Sunderland to press a bit given you are the home team, with us then by-passing or playing through your press to attack fast when you might be unorganised.

We struggle to break down a back 5 at the moment so our best chances will be with fast breaks and counterattacks. If Semenyo is playing expect most goal kicks to go straight to him as we crowd round for second balls.

Are any players missing and what would your predicted starting XI be?

Kluivert and Semenyo are hoping to be back for this match, but Christie is our for 3-4 weeks now and Gannon-Doak is a long term absence. Otherwise we are doing pretty well injuries wise.

(4-2-3-1) Petrovic (GK), Cook, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Adams, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Evanilson.

Sunderland are unbeaten at home so far this season – what is your prediction for the final score?

Given your home record and our away record I am expecting something like 2-1 loss, with us getting a consolation late on after struggling to break you down.

Having said that, I’ll go against my pessimistic instincts and say we will scrape a 2-2 draw.

See