AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth under-21s boss Carl Fletcher was pleased his young side were able to beat Southend United in a tricky away fixture.
On a sticky pitch, the Cherries were 4-2 winners thanks to goals from Tyler Cordner and a hat-trick from returning striker Callum Wilson.
Fletcher does believe there’s still areas for his side to improve however, and had this to say immediately after the game.
ON THE PERFORMANCE…
We tried to break Southend down and they have some good physical players.
It was another difficult pitch and we had to take care of the ball, but we had another young team out, there’s lots of under-18s getting used to the experience.
Like I said last week, there’s things to do better but the positives were that we looked really dangerous going forward and we played under pressure, playing some good football for periods.
I think we have to be more aggressive defending as a group, but there’s good positives and some stuff to learn - that’s what we’re here for, to try and improve.
ON HIS PLAYERS DOING THE RIGHT THINGS…
I think that was the way I was brought up, it’s the Bournemouth way to be brave with the ball.
You can take the easy option and go long, particularly on the pitch we played on, but for us the players get better having to receive and play under pressure, even when it’s not going right.
If they’re having a tough five minutes with playing passes, do they still want the ball, and generally the players are like that in our groups.
We want to do well, but play a certain way. There are challenges that come with that but the players are learning all the time.
ON CALLUM’S COMEBACK…
I’m pleased for him, it’s good to see him coming back scoring goals.
Like a goalie, any clean sheet is a positive and for a striker that’s scoring goals, it doesn’t matter who it’s against, it’s breeding confidence.
Physically he’ll know where he’s at but we’re fine tuning him a little bit, he’s scored five in two and could’ve had a few more in both the Southend and Cheltenham games.
But it’s good for our younger players to see a top Premier League striker up close, his movements, demands and work rate are infectious.
