AFC Bournemouth
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Cherries head coach Gary O’Neil fielded questions from the media on tomorrow’s Liverpool test.
Here are three things we learned…
1. Squad focussed after Emirates trip
Following last Saturday’s late defeat to Mikel Arteta’s league leaders, the head coach faced some questions reflecting on the game.
One question saw O’Neil discuss what the reaction had been like from the squad in training this week.
He explained: “The moment in the dressing room right after it was the toughest; speaking to the group about how I felt about the game at that moment and understanding where they were emotionally.
“Moving past that, this week has gone back to Liverpool are coming, so from Monday the lads were ready to work and ready to go.
“There was absolutely no hangover whatsoever. There was a review, of course, of things we could have done better and how well we did to go there and make things as close as they were.
“The lads are fine and we’re ready to go with another big, big side coming. There was full focus on Liverpool from Monday onwards.”
2. Looking forward, not back
O’Neil also faced questions on the reverse fixture of the Reds’ visit earlier this season.
Having come prior to being in the Cherries hot seat, he said on the trip to Anfield: “The 9-0 doesn’t come into my mind at all, we were in a very different place then.
“The lads will prepare for this like it’s another game against a very, very good side. They’re in good form at the moment and have fantastic attacking threat.
“It’ll be a tough ask, of course, but we approach the game as one that we need to take three points from.”
3. Looking forward to coming up against Jürgen Klopp
With Liverpool’s visit this weekend comes a reunion of sorts for the Bournemouth head coach, having taken his first steps into coaching with the Merseyside outfit.
Following retirement from playing, the now-39-year-old coach spent over half a year as Liverpool under-23s’ assistant manager before joining the Cherries, meaning he crossed paths with the manager in the opposition dugout on Saturday.
“I saw him around a bit, obviously there was Covid at the time, so it was trickier to move between groups,” O’Neil told the press on Jürgen Klopp.
“He attended some of the games and I saw him around the training ground.
“He was a nice guy and very helpful, so yeah, I’m looking forward to going up against him tomorrow.”
