The Top Flight
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English Premier League: Bournemouth season review – A cherry smoothie of results

By Orri Benatar

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - MAY 05: General view inside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Swansea City at Vitality Stadium on May 5, 2018 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - MAY 05: General view inside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Swansea City at Vitality Stadium on May 5, 2018 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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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.

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

Next: Swansea season review

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.

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