The Cherries finished ninth last season and weren’t able to get back to the top half. Bournemouth’s mix of youth and experience produced a mixed bag of results for 2017-18.
Bournemouth Season Review
The Cherries lost four straight to begin the season and everyone started to believe Eddie Howe’s squad ran out of gas and was going straight back down to the Championship. Bournemouth was battling to get out of the drop zone throughout the first half of the season and finally broke through permanently after a 2-1 win against Everton.
That win sparked the best run of the season for the Cherries. They got points in nine of the next ten games after the Everton win and sealed their 12th-place finish with 11 wins and 11 draws. Bournemouth will return in 2018-19 for a fourth-straight year of Premier League football.
Our third @premierleague season is complete. Here's to more moments like this! 🙌
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) May 15, 2018
Bring on 2018/19... 🤗#afcb 🍒 pic.twitter.com/cEG5lOVXWb
Biggest Win: 3-0 at Chelsea (January 31st)
Eddie Howe was able to get his squad to string together wins and draws to start 2018. Two weeks after beating Arsenal 2-1, Bournemouth came to Stamford Bridge and stomped Chelsea. They scored three in the second half as Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas, and former Chelsea player Nathan Ake sent Chelsea fans crying out for a new manager.
Heaviest Defeat: 4-1 at Huddersfield (February 11th)
A seven-game unbeaten run came crashing down hard at the beginning of February when Bournemouth traveled to play the Terriers. Bournemouth could not buy a goal and allowed a low-scoring Huddersfield team to score four past Asmir Begovic. After the 4-1 loss to Huddersfield, Bournemouth only won three more times in the course of the season.
Player of the Season: Charlie Daniels
The 31-year old English defender strung together another season of consistent defending. Daniels missed only three games all season and had an average match rating of 6.72. His goals went down from four last season to just one this year, but man his one goal was INCREDIBLE!
Worst Player: Jordon Ibe
I'm starting to think maybe Jordan Ibe isn't actually better than Raheem Sterling.
— Rush The Kop (@RushTheKop) December 23, 2017
Jordon Ibe (Yeah, it’s an “o” in his name instead of an “a”) was signed by the Cherries in 2016 and has not lived up to the hype that surrounded him at Liverpool. Ibe came to the Vitality as an explosive winger with a knack to create and score some goals.
This past season, he netted two goals in 32 games. The 22-year old still has some time to develop, but two goals after missing just six games in unacceptable.