Since their arrival to the English top flight in the 15/16 season, AFC Bournemouth have been a side known for their core of English leaders and veterans. There were players in the starting eleven of wins over some of the top sides that’d been with the squad since their journey up the pyramid from League One, with the likes of Steve Cook, Simon Francis, Charlie Daniels and Marc Pugh as stalwarts for the Cherries. The core of the side, also including players such as Harry Arter, Dan Gosling, Andrew Surman and Adam Smith, have faced down and won against the biggest teams in the country, stealing points from Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool on their road to Premier League stability. Eddie Howe’s men have repaid his faith by the buckets and reinvented themselves as players good enough to throw down with the best in the country.

But, as time goes on, changes have had to be made. Going into their fifth consecutive Premier League season, the Bournemouth old guard have had to face competition for spots, injury nightmares, and how to maintain their own longevity as they move past their peak footballing years. Marc Pugh and Harry Arter, aged 32 and 29 respectively (at the time of writing), has left for pastures new in the Championship form a lack of playing time. Francis and Daniels both have had to fight back against long term injuries which has ruled them out for months at a time – alongside Callum Wilson, another pre-Premier League player, whose only recently been able to fully show his quality after a series of unfortunate injuries plagued his early top flight seasons. New blood in the midfield has made Surman and Gosling fight for their spots at the nexus of the Cherries side, with the likes of Lewis Cook, Jefferson Lerma and Phillip Billing challenging their reign. Steve Cook is the one true member of the Old Guard that has consistently kept his place in the side, seeing out the challenge for his spot from young Welshman Chris Mepham as he pairs Nathan Ake week in and week out.

Despite a need for change and fresh faces in the side, the Bournemouth transfer record in the Premier League era has been suspect to say the least. Eddie Howe’s recruitment team have obviously been keen to bring in British blood to the side, which has led to some suspect signings like Jordon Ibe for £16m, Benik Afobe for £12m, Brad Smith for £3m, and Marc Wilson for £3m, who they loaned back to West Bromwich Albion six months later, and released on a free a year after signing. They also signed a 34 year old Jermain Defoe for free, but on a large three year contract when the player was clearly past his best, scoring only four in thirty four appearances at Dean Court.

That is not to say that they have been devoid of quality incomings, however, and have steadily improved their signings year-on-year. Highlights have been the aforementioned Lewis Cook and Chris Mepham, 22 and 21 years old respectively, with the former being the u-20 England Captain while on the South Coast, and both of them already capped for their national teams – despite his young age, Mepham already looks a regular in the Welsh setup. David Brooks comes in with a similar profile: a young Welshman from the Championship eager to prove himself, making his way both into the Bournemouth and Welsh sides since his move. Eddie Howe hasn’t just stuck to British talent, though, and has brought in keen signings such as Jefferson Lerma, Philip Billing, Josh King and Nathan Ake, making the first eleven spots fiercely competitive. Lloyd Kelly, Jack Stacey and Arnaud Danjuma are other signings who have promise, but haven’t had a run in the first team at the time of writing.

While hit-and-miss transfers one staple of the side, a loose defence has often been another. According to stats at footystats.org, Bournemouth conceded 1.76 goals per game in the 15/16 season, 1.76 again in 16/17, 1.61 in 17/18 and 1.84 in 18/19, a worryingly high amount. Furthermore, in the same seasons, according to footcharts.co.uk, they conceded 4.05, 4.97, 4.63, and 4.61 shots on target per game. The Cherries have been lauded as an exciting outfit, but not a secure one at the back, with defensive errors from the goalkeeper and defense all too common. Keepers Asmir Begovic and Artur Boruc have unfortunately been all too susceptible to mistakes, increasing the threat to Bournemouth whenever they don’t have the ball.

Season	Shots on target conceded per game	Goals conceded per game
15/16	4.05	1.76
16/17	4.97	1.76
17/18	4.63	1/61
18/19	4.61	1.84

However, new players and a fresh look to the formation have shown promise in the 19/20 season. And be warned – stat overload incoming.

Aaron Ramsdale

With the goalkeeper issue ever prevalent at the end of last season, change had to be made. Young Irishman Mark Travers made a handful of appearances and did well, although still found the side on the wrong end of a hiding against Crystal Palace, shipping five on the last day of the season. With Begovic sent on loan to Qarabag and Boruc relegated to the third keeper position, it was Aaron Ramsdale that challenged Travers and took the first-team spot for the 19/20 at Dean Court. The young Englishman had played in Leagues One and Two on loan from Bournemouth, but this was his first season playing at the top flight – he was an unknown quantity. Despite the nervousness, he has been a revelation, settling the backline and looking self-assured between the sticks.

Ten games into the season, Bournemouth have had 4.3 shots on target against them per game, but only 1.3 goals conceded, with Ramsdale making 3.1 saves a game (whoscored.com) – 32 saves in total, joint fourth highest in the Premier League.  This is an improvement on Begovic’s numbers the two seasons before, coming in at only 2.9 and 2.5 saves per game in 17/18 and 18/19 respectively, as well as Artur Boruc’s 2.5 in the 15/16 season. However, only ten games into the season, Ramsdale’s numbers might decrease through the campaign.

Ramsdale makes 26.6 passes per game (9th in the league for players with 5+ appearances), although 0.4 are inaccurate short passes, the second highest in the league, from 9.1 accurate short passes, showing that he isn’t afraid to play out from the back, but it is still an area to improve upon. However, he isn’t opposed to playing the ball longer, either, shown in the assist he picked up when Callum Wilson capitalised on a Ramsdale long ball into the Southampton half when the Cherries won 3-1. Ramsdale has been a confident and steady hand at the heart of the Bournemouth defence, and at only 21 will only get better.

Philip Billing

Billing came to Bournemouth from the relegated Huddersfield side, to help fill a hole in the midfield. His signing served two purposes – to account for the injury to Lewis Cook at the time and in the first team picture, but also to improve the Cherries defensive game, too, which had been all too porous. The fact that Billing is only 23 years old is an added bonus. For the majority of the 19/20 season so far, he has partnered the aggressive Jefferson Lerma in midfield, and with 2.7 tackles per game for Huddersfield that season, it’s clear why in a midfield that needs to protect the defence first, and pass along to the wings in the attacking phase of their game.

Billing has raced out of the blocks for Bournemouth, imprinting his mark on just about every game. He makes 4.9 defensive actions per game (2.3 tackles and 2.6 interceptions), a degree higher than Lerma’s 3.3 (1.2 and 2.1) beside him – although he does commit 0.4 more fouls per game than the Colombian, and is dribbled past 0.6 more times a match. His and Lerma’s interception numbers are the third and fifth highest in the league respectively for central midfielders, showing how crucial they are to Bournemouth’s defensive qualities.

However, he also offers more passes per game (43.8 v 40.7) and key passes per game (0.4 vs 0.3) than Lerma, and has an assist to his name from the cut back into the box for Harry Wilson’s goal against Southampton. While these numbers don’t stand up compared to Lewis Cook’s own in the 17/18 campaign (42.3 passes and 1 key pass(es) per game, two assists), he has not played consistently since then and will need to find his feet in the side before he rivals Billing as Bournemouth’s most influential central midfielder. Billing finds some freedom in the midfield by making 1.2 dribbles each game, and will pop up outside of the opposition box to offer an extra body in attack.

Diego Rico

Rico was brought to Bournemouth in the summer of 2018 as an exciting option at the left back berth, to compete with Charlie Daniels for the spot. He came to the English club after a strong season with Leganes in Spain, and he was keen to impress new boss Eddie Howe. Unfortunately, his 18/19 campaign was torrid, making only five starts in the league and suffering defensively, much like the rest of the squad. There was no room to accommodate and bring him up to speed, so he sat out much of the season. However, with Daniels’ early injury at the beginning of the 19/020 season, and Lloyd Kelly’s existing injury, the left back position was Rico’s for the taking – Ake had filled in there, but he is far too crucial at centre back.

Fortunes have turned for Rico in the new season, and he has gone from strength to strength. While his defensive numbers still need to be improved upon – being dribbled past 1.6 times a game and committing a foul almost once a match – it is going forward that has seen Rico flourish. The Spaniard offers 1.3 long passes per game, which is second only to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 1.8, and his 2.1 key passes per game is ninth in the league. He performs 1.7 crosses per game (third in the league), and his 1.3 successful corners per game is the highest in the Premier League, with one of his two assists coming from crosses, planting it on the head of Nathan Ake who scored against Southampton. Assisting in two of Bournemouth’s three wins this season, Rico is proving to be a reliable option to keep the Cherries attack ticking over.