AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth will be hoping to bring down the curtain at Vitality Stadium in style when they host Premier League high-fliers Manchester United on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The Cherries entertain the Champions League-chasing Red Devils in their final home game of the season having already assured their top-flight status.
Currently fourth, United arrive in Dorset locked in an intriguing battle with Newcastle, Liverpool and Brighton for a top-four finishing berth.
Erik ten Hag’s team started the month with back-to-back defeats against the Seagulls and West Ham before triumphing 2-0 against Wolves last Saturday.
They host Chelsea and Fulham in their final two league games of the season before facing Manchester City in the FA Cup final next month.
United progressed after seeing off Everton, Reading, West Ham, Fulham and Brighton, securing their place at Wembley after beating the Seagulls on penalties in the semi-final.
They exited the Europa League after losing 5-2 on aggregate to Sevilla in the quarter-finals last month, the Red Devils drawing 2-2 at Old Trafford before suffering a 3-0 defeat in Spain.
Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford were all on target when United beat the Cherries 3-0 at Old Trafford at the start of January.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Samuel Luckhurst who covers the fortunes of United for the Manchester Evening News.
MANCHESTER UNITED PROFILE
Founded: 1878
Ground: Old Trafford
Nicknames: The Red Devils, United
Record appearances: Ryan Giggs – 963 games (1991-2014)
Record goalscorer: Wayne Rooney – 253 goals in 559 games
Manager: Erik ten Hag (appointed April 2022)
Club captain: Harry Maguire
League position: Fourth
Leading goalscorer: Marcus Rashford (29 in all competitions)
Last game: Manchester United 2-0 Wolves (Premier League)
afcb.co.uk: How would you summarise United’s season?
SL: It’s been very good so far you would have to say given they are in the top four and they won a trophy at the earliest point possible.
Of course, given what could also happen in the run-in, it could be an unsuccessful season.
So much hinges on whether they qualify for the Champions League and, with the FA Cup final, the possibility that that could be an opportunity to stop Manchester City from winning the treble, it’s just added spice to what feels like the most eagerly-awaited FA Cup final in a lifetime.
For now, it’s successful but it could end unsuccessfully.
afcb.co.uk: Top-four finish or FA Cup win?
SL: Ten Hag’s stock answer would be both. I don’t think anybody related to United would ever want to choose one or the other.
But if you put supporters in a position where they absolutely had to choose, they would probably go with the FA Cup just because there’s a possibility City could win the treble.
Certainly, for the powerbrokers, I would imagine they would take top four every time because increased revenue does make a huge difference to what the club can plan for for the season ahead and the players they can target in the transfer window despite the ownership situation.
afcb.co.uk: Can you put your finger on why their title challenge has faltered this season?
SL: There was never going to be a title challenge. There was some chatter in January but that was extremely premature. I never thought United would be in with a shout whatsoever.
The situation at the club at the moment given what happened last summer where they had essentially their first phase of a rebuild, nobody expected United to be going for the title this season.
And just because Arsenal have had a very good shot at it, doesn’t really change anything. Arsenal were a lot longer down the line in their process under Mikel Arteta.
For United, this season is all about qualifying for the Champions League. If they take that step, then I think it would be fair to say next season they have to make a genuine tilt at the title.
The squad is nowhere near where it needs to be to mount a challenge and to challenge a team as brilliant at City.
If you look at the United squad, it’s probably in single figures the number of players ten Hag can completely trust so they are still a very long way off being title-challenging material.
afcb.co.uk: Who has been the pick of their signings, either summer or winter window?
SL: Lisandro Martinez because he was a bit of an unknown quantity. They still over-paid for him because of the situation they were in last summer where Arsenal were also interested in him.
To have gone for a player who was not recommended by the scouting department – they were pushing for Pau Torres – and to have gone with the manager’s instinct and for the player to have come in and had an impressive season as he has, it has to be him.
He was new to the Premier League and new to a truly huge club as well.
Casemiro has been very good but you would expect him to be because he was a serial winner at Real Madrid.
But for his injury, Martinez might have been in the Premier League team of the season.
afcb.co.uk: How would you describe Erik ten Hag’s tenure?
SL: He’s been extremely impressive. He’s a disciplinarian and he’s restored authority to the manager’s role. That authority had eroded over a period of about four years.
His handling of some very delicate situations has been impressive. Cristiano Ronaldo underestimated him time and again and eventually it cost him his United career.
Ten Hag has really got a handle of managing United. There would have been a lot of people who would have been unsure about the prospect of an Ajax manager going to as big a club as United and whether he had the characteristics and the authority to be able to do the job but he certainly has.
e has dispelled any doubts there might have been over that very quickly and, so far, it has been a successful season.
afcb.co.uk: Who is their young player to watch?
SL: Alejandro Garnacho.
He’s had a remarkable 15 months or so and just when you think he’s achieved everything, he achieves something else. He’s an extremely important player at United. He’s a game-changer off the bench.
The next challenge for him is probably to cut it as a starter more frequently.
But he’s come on in some really testing matches, against Barcelona and Manchester City where United were losing, and they ended up winning.
He’s an extremely exciting player to watch and he’s already extremely popular with supporters.
He’s barely had two-and-half years at the club but already he looks like a United player in the truest sense and they have a long love affair with wingers.
afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?
SL: Martinez and Marcus Rashford are the main ones.
Rashford returned to training this week but is now ill. They will wait and see how he is on Saturday.
Marcel Sabitzer is also out for the rest of the season and has been quite a handy loanee.
Donny van de Beek has been out since January but he didn’t play much before he got injured.
Scott McTominay’s robustness has probably been missed over the past four or five weeks.
afcb.co.uk: How do you see the game panning out and what’s your score prediction?
SL: Bournemouth have had some really good performances against United. I know they beat them 2-1 when Louis van Gaal was manager and were unfortunate to lose 2-1 when Jose Mourinho was in charge.
Gary O’Neil has done a brilliant job this season and has possibly been manager of the year, given the circumstances he inherited.
For them to be safe is an extraordinary achievement because I think most people would have had them down for relegation.
This is a must-win game for United and, if they were to win, it would really fuel confidence of getting top four.
Their away record against teams in the bottom half of the table has, by and large, been relatively decent and where Bournemouth are already safe, I think United will nick it.
I don’t necessarily think it will be a wholly convincing performance from United so I’ll probably go with 2-1 to them.
You can follow Samuel on Twitter – @samuelluckhurst
Officials: Chris Kavanagh (referee), Marc Perry (assistant), Steven Meredith (assistant), Dean Whitestone (fourth official), Craig Pawson (VAR).
