 Hello and welcome to another AFC VTV preview show here at Vitality Stadium. I'm actually going to commentate to Chris Temple's back and we'll be talking everything AFC Bournemouth in the next half an hour or so. We're going to start back at last weekend in that 2-0 defeat in South Wales. Chris, it was a tough afternoon, wasn't it? Yeah, Eddie Howe described it as a really weird game. You know, a lot of the ball but just didn't really have the cutting edge. Obviously it was a very emotional occasion as well and there was lots of things going on around it. But on paper, off the back of the Chelsea result and the confidence and everything that that built, I think it was one that people probably didn't see coming. Just a bit of a sort of flat performance. Andrew Sermon had a shot tipped onto the bar at 1-0 that could have been a different afternoon if that goes in. No doubt about the penalty early on either. Steve Crip with his handball. So yeah, I think all in all it's one of those that you sort of look back at, I don't know, new castle games like that where things just didn't really happen and you can't really put your finger on why. So Eddie's said in the advance of this game this weekend that they haven't really reflected too much on Cardiff because it was a little bit of a quirk and that it wasn't really Bournemouth. It was a sort of strange old day all round. So yeah, I think they're keen to move on pretty quickly from that. And the timing of the goals didn't help either right at the start of the first half and right at the start of the second half as well. Yeah, exactly. It wouldn't a half time when you've mapped out how you need to improve and things and then you go and concede straight away terrible timing from that point of view. Cardiff had their game plan which I think, you know, I did not say it caught Eddie on the hop but in terms of like it was a difficult one to deal with. So yeah, Cardiff played a unique way in the context of the table. It was, you know, when you lose to a team down the bottom. I think you'd always expect that to be a very emotionally charged day. Of course Cardiff will be fired up by the tragic news of Emiliano Salo of course as well. So yeah, I think that is one that goes into the draw line and move on pretty quickly book here. And you mentioned Andrew Sermon hit the bar. It was a really good save from Neil Etheridge and if that goes in at 1-0 then you never know what could happen from there. Yeah, Neil Etheridge has been a good signing for Cardiff. He's actually, you know, he's kept him in a few games this season. I think you remember him having a quite good game here in the return fixture right at the start of the season. So yeah, if that goes in, it's a different game. Andrew Sermon doesn't get many goals. Sometimes when he pops up they're very important ones. So yeah, if that could have been a game changer potentially but Dominic Selenchi looking at the positives, he got on and got some match minutes which I think he obviously needed. You know, bowl accounts drove the ball pretty well, held the ball up nicely but was finding himself pretty deep at times and the final third was a problem. So he'll only get better at match minutes and with Callum out for the next few weeks then he'll probably get them. And you mentioned Callum was out. David Bricks was also missing. How much of a factor do you think that was? Probably the factor to be honest. The way he played against Chelsea, the way he's been playing recently. You know, I would imagine Wales fans and Cardiff fans were probably a bit disappointed because obviously he's been a factor in the Wales international team. They were probably quite liking the look of getting a close-up glimpse of what he can do. So yeah, not the Bournemouth fans particularly care about what Cardiff fans think but yeah, huge miss and he's going to be out for a few weeks so when you suddenly take Callum out of the team and then you take probably your most creative player out of the team as well then that obviously is not a great situation. Others of course can step up. It's a good chance for Junior to come in and now Ryan Fraser will have a bit more sort of, I guess, leaning on his shoulders to make things happen but I guess it's just a testament to David Bricks and what a good season he's had that you take him out and all of a sudden having to look in other areas for someone to spark things into action. And you mentioned that Chelsea game. That game just four days later was a real good opportunity to build some momentum after the run they've been on. Yeah, it is a strange how a team can turn into sort of so different performances and again, is there a mental factor? You know, you beat Chelsea 4-0 and you're riding the crest of a wave and all of a sudden Eddie shot this down that they got a bit carried away but it was just the inconsistency, that's the thing. It's amazing that a team can perform, what is it, three or four days apart in two completely different ways. So they have to use that Chelsea result and performance in the right way and it will give them some confidence going to Liverpool because they have, well, they trashed one of the best, basically. I was going to say they beat them, but they beat them up. So Liverpool haven't been firing on all cylinders. We'll talk about that in more in a moment, but football is a funny old game that you can suddenly see two different teams in the space of a few days. And as you say, it's a very emotional afternoon, very sombra afternoon. That would have been on the minds of everyone at Cardiff City, wouldn't it? Yeah, and Bournemouth players will, you can't help sometimes and get sucked up into that sort of thing because you end up taking part in things that are not part of a normal match day. You have to try and keep your mind and everything focused. That's the job of a football or whatever is going on outside. Over much stick you get from the terrace or over much emotion there is around a certain occasion when the whistle goes, you've got to try and be on it. But sometimes you just can't, you cannot sometimes quantify how much those sort of things do get in your mind and do just, I guess, change your mental side of the game. So, yeah, it was a very difficult afternoon, I think, for everybody connected to Cardiff and now you saw Neil Warnock's emotion at the end as well what it sort of meant overall, really. Absolutely. Well, at the Cardiff City Stadium last weekend, Steve Cook made his 300th appearance for AFC Bournemouth and he's been speaking to AFC BTV this week to reflect on the milestone. Steve, some very touching messages from family, friends, ex-players, players. Any strike a real chord with you there? Yeah, obviously. My close mates, family. I don't know why I thought my motion was weird. Obviously my little boy at the end. Jayden. Jayden is not clean, he's obviously an out-suit and nutter. The one that obviously makes me laugh a lot and all of them, to be honest, I'm delighted with all the videos I've been really touching. The theme of a lot of the messages, Steve, is it's not been easy for you to get here, just talk us through those sort of early days? Yeah, obviously. It's a very difficult journey to come on, being a professional footballer. From Marnie Huntsford, my youth team manager, I nailed it on at 15. I probably accepted that I wasn't going to be a footballer for one reason or another. To sit here now playing 300 games for Bournemouth, and nearly half of those in the Premier League is incredible. Obviously the videos took me back to the emotions that I probably felt then. Yeah, I'm really proud. Obviously, along the way, I've thrown and nailed it on, not many lows. Obviously once you get to a good club like this, and the rise we've been on, but obviously a lot of difficult challenges to get here in the first place. To reflect on that, I've never done. To reflect a little bit now is really nice, yeah. Well, that was Steve Kirk reflecting on his 300th appearance for AFC Bournemouth. The full interview is available on AFC BTV for free. Chris, what a servant he's been for the club, and still continues to be for the club as well. Yeah, brilliant. Nice milestone for him this weekend. It was lovely to see him with those messages on the club website as well. Check that video out if you haven't seen it already. What a player he's grown into since he first came in 2011. On loan, of course, first of all, from Brighton having been on loan elsewhere, and came down here, and whatever they paid, was it 300 grand, I think? It was, again, looks an amazing snipper, so many of the cherry squad are, but you think these days he's propelled himself onto the brink potentially of England's selection. He and Nathan Echo formed a fantastic partnership. He's turned into a real leader as well in the absence of particularly Simon Francis in the last few weeks. He has the on-band at times when Andrew Sherman isn't playing as well. He's a much more rounded character these days. He's obviously a family man as well, which I think makes quite a big difference to players as he's happy in his life down here as well. So, yeah, he really has made such progress. I think even over the last, I would say over the last six months, he's made fantastic progress, either side of the summer probably, the back end of last year and the start of this year when he and Nathan Echo have become the first choice pair, if you like. Yeah, he's grown into a real asset for Eddie Howe, and one of the first names absolutely on the team sheet. And some really fond memories, of course, defensively, but also up front, he's been popping up with the odd goal of a championship as well that can't go unnoticed. Doesn't score a tap in, Steve Cooker, the overhead kick at Ipswich if we go back a little bit as well to the championship days as well. Yeah, he doesn't get many tap-ins. Think of the last minute winner at Newcastle as well when he powered in that header, so he's very, very useful from set pieces and not always in the traditional centre half with those headers. It has been sometimes a spectacular strike like a full-on which the one into the top corner no-one will forget as well. So, yeah, and as you say, it's really useful to have somebody who can be contributing. They might only score three or four a season, but those three or four, we've seen Nathan Ackay bag three already this season, they can be really, really important goals. You mentioned Nathan Ackay there, him and Steve Cook. They've been brilliant at the back this season, haven't they? Yeah, it's really grown into a partnership. Again, we're looking back to the Chelsea game, the last game here at the Vitality Stadium where they had to deal with absolutely everything thrown at them for half an hour, the concentration, even later in the game as well when Chelsea are looking to get back in it. But it's hard to sometimes not to underestimate how much it takes for those guys with what they're dealing with with these top-level strikers, you know. Trying to keep an eye on Eden Azad when he's in good form, and some would say he didn't have his best game here actually in that 4-0 with, you know, got a bit frustrated. But that was because they shackled him basically and they allowed him absolutely nothing. So, yeah, now that the fact that you can now rely on Steve Cook and Nathan Ackay to keep clean sheets against the likes of Chelsea, just emphasises what a brilliant partnership they've built. And Steve Cook, he's one of only six outfield players to play every minute of the Premier League this season. That's quite something, isn't it? It is in this day and age where the game is so physical and so demanding on the body. Someone like Steve Cook will be in lots of physical battles. He throws himself in for tackles. There's hardly anybody above him in the clearances and blocks statistics in the Premier League when they come out. He's always thrown himself in. He'll get a clout from Andy Carroll or somebody, so these things, they do take their toll. He's one of rugby players who can only play once a week because of the physical battering that their bodies take. Now, I'm not saying Steve Cook is a rugby player, but what I'm saying is that sometimes the fact that these players do manage to keep themselves on the pitch weekend, weekend out for every single minute, it just shows the hard work they put in behind the scenes in the gym, on the training ground, dedication to make sure that they can perform at the top level every week. And it's worth mentioning as well for someone that's been here since 2011 and is a centre-back as well. He's never got a red card for the cherries. You see those moments in games where you'll need to pull somebody down or something for the good of the team or you see a rash moment. I think what it does show is that he's got a cool head on him really. He doesn't get involved in flash points really. Yeah, he's passionate and of course he will see him hollering at people and hollering at the ref sometimes as well when things aren't going right, but he obviously knows how to keep a lid on it. He has made mistakes. It would be remiss of us not to mention there have been some mistakes, maybe there's been one this season, but I think that was the part of his game where the difference between him being a very, very top defender and just a Premier League defender is that he's now ironed out most of those mistakes. And again, I think that comes with his maturity as a player and his decision making and again the hard work that he and Nathan Acay along with the Gaffer and Jason Tindall who of course were centre halves themselves, they talk of all that work they put in on the training ground so it's bearing fruit for sure. And you mentioned earlier he has had that armband on his ability doesn't he? Yeah, I think he'd probably like to have it a bit more. Andrew Sermon is the club vice captain which is what he has the armband on when he's on the pitch. But I think Steve Cook is showing because Simon Francis with the unfortunate injury he's had and the age he's at, who knows how much longer he will be a factor in the Premier League team hopefully for a long while yet, but Steve Cook I would say is certainly the captain in waiting isn't he in terms of how he's matured. And I think his belief in his own game also transfers into that leadership as well and you can deal with what's being thrown at you. You can be an example to other people as well and I think now that he's sort of has got himself as a top top defender he therefore can sort of allow that to rub off on others as a leader. And for someone that's been around for so long he's still only 27 years old so he could still have his best years ahead of him. Yeah centre halves often you see them in their mid to late 20s start to mature. The fact he's spent so long here he's been here for eight years it's going to be the most of his career anytime soon I wouldn't think as long as the gaffers here then Steve Cook will be here. So yeah from that point of view he's developed from, he's a great success story like Simon Francis, like Charlie Daniels you know Mark Pew who's now elsewhere all of these guys who were started out their career and have gone the full journey here. Absolutely a fantastic 7th for the club but next up for the cherries is the trip to Anfield to Face Liverpool and back in 2017 it was quite a day let's remind ourselves. Let's have a touch inside because with the challenge it's Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum's back pass is short it's Benicaphobe and Bournemouth leads it's a moment of calamity for Liverpool and Wijnaldum but Benicaphobe seized on the opportunity to net his 5th goal of the season thank you Bournemouth the advantage after just seven minutes Wijnaldum just simply doesn't look good form 14th in the table seven points above the relegation places they know they are close to securing another season in the top fight here's Coutinho, it's Billy Coutinho Liverpool have parity five minutes before the interval the two Brazilians combining it's direct really Mimino took the ball under control and Coutinho did ever so well just to manipulate his body shape but maintain his balance before slotting the ball home James Milner full of beans this evening Wijnaldum Wijnaldum inside the area it's Wijnaldum he's up a Riki and Liverpool leads a Wijnaldum who's horrendous error gifted ball with the lead after just seven minutes proves to be the architects for Liverpool on that occasion beautifully crafted and a Riki and a simple finish shape from Wijnaldum just sales Wiltshire the dummy dangles the ball up to a Riki and it's two and two for the Belgian inside the box and Bournemouth do have the equaliser with three minutes of the 90 remaining Josh King could well have snatched a point for Bournemouth at Anfield just wasn't properly cleared Clavent lost sight of the ball lost sight of his man Josh King just got the ball out of his feet it's such close range it's a simple finish Eddie Howe celebrates on the touchline well the points shared at Anfield back in 2017 and it was Joshua King with the late equaliser on that day now speaking of Joshua King we have this team of the week card to give away in today's show if you want to be in with the chance of winning it then just comment below with your favourite Kingie moment and we'll pick a winner by three o'clock tomorrow afternoon so make sure you get commenting on YouTube and we'll be picking a winner tomorrow now Chris, fond memories of that day back in 2017 first result they got obviously at Anfield as well having gone ahead and then suddenly find yourself behind sometimes you can think we've lost the chance it's gone and then Joshua King with that late equaliser I remember actually very clearly because it being a sort of silence the ground on that occasion because Liverpool would expect a couple of seasons to go to beat Bournemouth at home for sure that was the season with the 4-3 so that was Bournemouth's season so far against Liverpool taking four points out of six off them the last three meetings of course have been pretty difficult in the other direction but that one that day Joshua King, I'm sure scoring at the equaliser at Anfield will be a great moment for any player for sure and Liverpool were all about here where Salah got a hat-trick and it was something of a nasty wake-up call wasn't it? Yeah but then you think back to the first goal that shouldn't have stood Salah was offside when that initial shot came in and he tapped in the rebound obviously and then there was a couple of mistakes after that and a team like Liverpool when the form that they were in are going to punish you and they did so yeah the last three games I think had been 4-0, 3-0 and 4-0 so that doesn't always tell the story of the season, just lost top spot in the table of course to Manchester City a month ago that people were putting the crown on their heads that won the title and Tottenham of course coming back into it as well now so yeah they'll be suddenly feeling a bit of the spotlight having drawn the last couple of games drawing it home to Leicester they would have had that down as three and then you think right you've got to go to West Ham and make up for that and they didn't manage to do so only got a point there as well so I say only a point because a point away from home in the Premier League the quality of opposition on your coattails that they've had any sort of slip up can be crucial so yeah Bournemouth are going there people will say great time to go they've not won the last two games the other side of that is that they're looking to bounce back and they know that they're under a bit of pressure now but I know Eddie's a big fan of Jürgen Klopp and he thinks that they're probably the best team in the Premier League of what we've seen so far this season so even though they may not be sitting top of the pile at the moment so yeah in terms of daunting fixtures it's not that long ago I'm here as you say in that 4-0 yeah it's another tough one and you mentioned Manchester City now top of the table after Wednesday nights when how much will that play on Liverpool's minds going into the game I think well it certainly tells them they're banging back in the title race of course that was City have played a game more so Liverpool still got the chance to re-exert their authority City have played that game early because of the League Cup final of course in a couple of weeks time but yeah I think when you lose top spot and you've been in pole position and you've just slipped up a couple of times and you've allowed people back into it yeah they'll certainly be looking at where it's not happening for them but we have to look at the run before that when I can't remember exactly how many but it was something like eight or nine games in a row they won so you've got to look at what the form they produced before that and know that they're going to have a little bit of a setback at some point and if a setback is drawing two games then that's not a major setback in the grand scheme of things but yeah the key for Bournemouth is to go there with the Chelsea hat on not the Cardiff hat on and of course the draws against West Ham that can give them so much confidence going into the game can't it? For Bournemouth it can give them confidence that Liverpool might be on a bad streak it might have a bit of a hangover of course Bournemouth have got lots of insight into the Liverpool camp with Dominic Selancki and Nathaniel Kleinw of course isn't available this weekend so from a team news point of view you'd expect Adam Smith to go to right back and probably Charlie Daniels to come back in as well fresh from his goal here against Chelsea of course but yeah I mean for Dominic Selancki what a nice game to have in a way he'll want to go there and I'm sure probably show Liverpool fans maybe what they thought they would see from him maybe it's a little bit early he probably would have wanted three or four more games to get up to speed with this team as well as get his sharpness up before he sort of goes back and I guess he's on display at Liverpool but I'm sure it would be a nice one for him to be able to go back there and you know Jordan Ibe as well so Bournemouth have got a lot of Liverpool scouts in their camp put it that way and of course going back to the start of December when they played Manchester City they did a change of formation going ahead this weekend? Possibly and the only thing I'll say is that the formation has you know you think of the Chelsea formation it has sort of found its formula I guess in the last couple of weeks of course when you take Callum out and you take David Brooks out who seems to have been playing so well in that sort of more floating role as a number 10 and that does give you one or two sort of different challenges but the way that the back five with Artur Boroch in goal and obviously client right back at Adam Smith at left back they've looked good as a back five from that point of view now you take Klein out of it this week and you play Adam Smith at right back there's an opportunity to potentially play three at the back and play wing backs you know Chris Meppam what a place to come in and make your full debut if they decide to go three at the back with three centre halves so yeah there are options I just think that the formula has been pretty good recently with the back four so I think if Eddie's happy playing the slightly tweaked personnel then he would probably want to go that way if he can and of course you mentioned no David Brooks so it's an opportunity for Dominic Solankey back where he spent several years yeah only one goal on his CV at this level so yeah it would be what a place to score for him he scored on the final day of last season at Amfield so he has scored there he knows what it's like to score for the home team which I'm sure obviously gets you about 40,000 more fans cheering for you than if you score for the away team but yeah I mean whether he would celebrate or not I don't know it's a hard one to know because he's not Liverpool out and out he ended up there from Chelsea but it is great that he's in the team and hopefully for Bournemouth fans with Callum being out for the next two, three, four weeks maybe they need Dominic Solankey to get himself up to match speed and start contributing a couple of goals absolutely and it's going to be a really exciting game at Amfield if you are going up to have a very safe journey if not make sure you keep an eye across all of our social media channels for the latest updates thanks for joining us