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Eddie Howe admits to being 'hurt' by Bournemouth's identity crisis
Eddie Howe believes his Bournemouth side have lost their identity during a nine-game run in which they have won only once.
Bournemouth were booed off at the final whistle here and Howe said: “Very few times, have I felt like this during my management career when I’ve looked at a team and not been able to see what we’ve worked on. We’re going through one of those phases at the moment where we look a bit disjointed.
“You are looking week in, week out, to see a clear identity, a clear way of playing, knowing you are improving in every game. But in recent weeks, we haven’t seen the clear philosophy we want, and that hurts me more than anything. We are going to have to review everything we do.”
Quite a reality check for Howe who is rightly revered on the south coast. He has insisted that Bournemouth are not safe despite them being 10 points clear of third-bottom Cardiff but the gloss is certainly being taken off a campaign which at one point looked poised to earn a European challenge.
Perhaps the best player this season has been Ryan Fraser, who has contributed six goals and 10 assists. Worryingly for Howe, the Scotland international has only 12 months to run on his contract and is yet to commit to an extension, with Arsenal linked to the player.
Howe admitted he was unsure whether Fraser would line up for Bournemouth next season though another of the Dorest club’s prized assets, Nathan Ake, is desperate for him to stay.
“Obviously Ryan’s been superb for us this season,” said Ake. “He’s been very, very good for us. He’s been working very hard, so obviously he’s one of the main guys this season, and obviously the club, and especially me, want to keep him.”
Burnley will all but guarantee their Premier League status by avoiding defeat at home to Cardiff on Saturday, something Ben Mee is confident they will achieve.
“It’s a good cushion to have, going into a big game next weekend full of confidence off the back of two wins,” said the defender. “It’s going to give us confidence and belief. We’ll go into that game on Saturday and try and get another three points, which would be massive.”
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