The first round of December games sees us welcome Bournemouth to Selhurst Park on Wednesday evening. The Cherries are in good form, having only lost one game in the League since October.
Ahead of the match, I spoke with Tom Jordan of the Back of the Net Bournemouth Podcast to hear how their fanbase are feeling.
TEB – A fairly mixed first part of the season for the Cherries, but you’ve seemed to find your balance now and look very potent in attack especially. What’s the feeling on where you’re at under Andoni Iraola?
TJ – It’s been a mixed bag results wise but the performances have been getting better game on game. Injuries to key players such as Max Aarons, Lloyd Kelly, Alex Scott and Tyler Adams have meant it’s taken some time to find our patterns. On the whole we are all loving what Iraola has brought to the group. We play front foot, brave and aggressive football which is a really entertaining watch.
TEB – What is your ambition for the season?
TJ – The minimum ambition is always to start next season as a Premier League club, that is always the priority. But we changed coach and style to try and see steady progress, small steps in terms of league position, points and a new way of playing are key for us moving forward.
TEB – Who has been your star of the season so far?
TJ – I’d always say our main man is Dominic Solanke. He has already scored more than he did the entirety of last season, but he is far more than goals and is vital to the way we play. He links everything together, has incredible football intelligence and his work rate is unquestionable. The emergence of Antoine Semenyo has also been a somewhat pleasant surprise, his pace and power are causing opponents problems week in week out at the moment, he’s a constant threat.
TEB – How do you think you will line up?
TJ – I expect us to line up in our usual 4231 system but we may mix things up at the top end of the pitch personnel wise, just due to the busy schedule. We’ll be high pressing and brave in the way we approach the game, so we should continue to create chances but may get caught in transitions on the counter.
TEB – Who is your pantomime villain at the moment?
TJ – In terms of a pantomime villain, we don’t have that as Southampton and Ryan Fraser are scrapping it out in the league below! Think it’s more the wider media rather than any individual fanbase or player. Just the whole ‘get in your lane’ that seems to be thrown at us, the amount of love for O’Neil and disdain on us replacing him and wanting to improve… Is a bit odd.
TEB – If you had a magic wand, which Palace player would you have in your squad or line up?
TJ – If I had a magic wand and could nick one of your players, it’d ironically be Jefferson Lerma! We were gutted to see him leave as we adored him down here, and typically his positional replacement Tyler Adams is on the long-term injury list. Equally, I’d be very merry if we had Guehi, Eze or Olise on our books too!
TEB – What are your views on Palace this season?
TJ – I think Palace are doing as expected really. Can’t see you being dragged into too much relegation bother but can’t see you pushing much higher than present either. Injuries have obviously hurt you too, Eze and Doucoure being huge losses. Think you’ve coped well without Zaha on the whole, but maybe lack some firepower in terms of goals in general.
TEB – Finally, predictions for the game?
TJ – I predict a tight game, my head says a score draw but my heart tells me we can nick it 2-1.. Always follow your heart I say!
TEB – Cheers Tom! If you’d like to hear more from him, you can check him out on X or by listening to the excellent Back of the Net Bournemouth Podcast.
