Bournemouth Fan View: Josh King must lead the line for the Cherries
Josh King is, arguably, my Bournemouth side’s best player. So you would expect the team to be built around him. Well, at least to some degree.
That is not the case however, and I feel this is a factor as to why we’ve had such an indifferent start to the season. Well, not indifferent – rubbish.
Norway manager Lars Lagerback is apparently planning to mould the national side around Josh King. So why isn’t Howe?
No to Defoe
The main reason is one man, Jermain Defoe. Although the England international’s arrival caused quite a stir in the press and amongst Premier League fans in general, he’s created an even bigger stir in terms of how we line up. And not in a good way.
He’s been played as the main striker for most of this season, with Josh King played behind him. Sadly this means the Norwegian can’t play his natural game – the one he’s so good at – which is being the focal point of our attacks.
Yes, he played behind Benik Afobe for some of last season – but the DR Congo international plays a different game to Defoe. He occasionally ran the channels and created space for King to run into.
Defoe doesn’t do that – he is the definition of a goal poacher. Subsequently it often looks like he and King are playing too closely to each other, and are too easy to defend against as a result.
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Hail to the Josh King
With this in mind I’d much rather King played up front on his own, and was supplied by a midfield five behind him. I think he’s done enough in his last two games – scoring in both – to deserve that position.
Defoe on the other hand has drifted in and out of games. He’s even missed some gilt-edge chances when he has played.
Missing that chance against Manchester City for us to go 2-0 up. Hitting the post at Arsenal. Then squandering that one on one against Everton. Converting all these chances could mean we’d be in a very different place in the table right now. But I’ll stop clutching at these straws now.
Can we outfox the foxes?
In any case if Josh King doesn’t start as our main striker – with Defoe being on the bench to get at tired defences – then I doubt we’ll ever fully escape the relegation battle we’re currently in.
Against Leicester this Saturday we’ll likely need more cover across the middle of the park as well. This is to best combat the attacking talents of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, and (cough) Demarai Gray. So it would be the ideal opportunity to start playing the 4-5-1 that I think would help us garner better results.
Howe won’t do this though of course, and it’s a shame. He seems keen to experiment with every formation he can think of – except the very one that worked so well in the last campaign.
