AFC Bournemouth
Shaun Cooper has shared his thoughts after his side ran out 1-0 winners in a friendly against Peterborough United this afternoon.
Taking place at Posh’s training ground, Keelan O’Connell struck the only goal of the game just before half-time, capitalising on a ‘keeper error before firing into an empty net.
After the game, the former Cherries defender spoke with afcb.co.uk about the positives from the win and the lessons that can be learned.
He said: “I thought we were below our usual levels today and as a result we had to rely on Will Dennis to make a number of good saves for us.
“He was superb and on days like today, that’s when the goalies are your matchwinners.
“He had too many shots to face but he saved them, so it was a good day for him and I was pleased for him.
“On the flip side of that, I thought the second half from us was better than the first, especially out of possession.
“We were a bit more organised in what we were doing and we had some good chances ourselves in the second half.
“It was good for our lads to experience the struggle in the first half and improve on it in the second.”
Cooper went on to discuss the challenge that comes with planning such fixtures, with a host of players training with the first team, while others played up from Alan Connell’s under-18s.
Despite that, the 37-year-old still believed that there was plenty to take from the game.
“For today, we had no preparation whatsoever and I think that was clear watching the first half.
“The challenge we set for the boys was trying to recognise what was going one early, and then trying to implement something.
“I think, for their development, that’s a really good thing and it’s something we try and work on in training.
“At the end of the first half, they took it upon themselves to change the shape and go to a 4-4-2 out of possession and they did that for the right reasons.
“Credit to them for recognising that and making that decision because it’s what I was going to do at half-time anyway. From that perspective, you see the real benefits of games like today.
“It wasn’t all doom and gloom. There were some good individual bits in there and some good responses to potential set-backs.”
The AFC Bournemouth under-21s are proudly sponsored by iPro.
