Bournemouth 2022-23 season review: Oscillating between jeopardy and joy

July 09, 2024

This has been a season unlike any other for Bournemouth. And for a club that has faced two administrations, transfer embargoes and three promotions in six years, that is saying something.

Over the last nine months, we have witnessed a managerial sacking just four games into the season, a takeover, an interim being made permanent head coach and actually doing well. And most importantly, Bournemouth securing another season in the Premier League. It’s no wonder the club are planning a documentary series to chronicle their fortunes.

The Athletic runs down some of the most glum, memorable and cringeworthy moments of Bournemouth’s rollercoaster campaign.

The high point

Bournemouth haven’t had too many high points this season. But the obvious answer here is the 4-1 win against Leeds in late April that all but secured their Premier League status for next season. It was the team’s most complete attacking display and a perfect illustration of how head coach Gary O’Neil released the handbrake and allowed his dynamic attackers to take centre stage.

But The Athletic’s choice for this section is the 1-0 win over a Liverpool side that had just put seven goals past Manchester United. All the hallmarks of Bournemouth’s brilliance were at play in that game: the rope-a-dope counter-attacks, Dominic Solanke thriving in a withdrawn striker role, the duality of Philip Billing’s game. That Bournemouth kept a clean sheet against the side that beat them 9-0 earlier in the season showed how far they had come from that painful August afternoon.

The low point

Most would say the 9-0 for understandable reasons, but the 3-2 loss at Arsenal in March looked like the nail in the coffin for Bournemouth’s survival aspirations. To go two goals up away to the league leaders only to lose with the last kick of the game is the kind of sucker punch you would normally hear about in one of your mate’s far-fetched hypotheticals.

That defeat left Bournemouth bottom of the table on goal difference with just 12 games of the season remaining. It began to appear as though they would not muster the points needed to avoid relegation but their climb up the table since defied all those expectations.

Honorable mention for the post-World Cup slump which saw Bournemouth fail to score in four consecutive games at the turn of the year, playing some of their worst football of the season.

Goal of the season

This is a tough one.

For a player with menacing height, Billing is silky in possession — opting for flicks and finesse wherever possible. But if that doesn’t work, he also has a cannon of a left foot. Nottingham Forest found that out the hard way when the Dane scored from 30-plus yards to kickstart Bournemouth’s 3-2 comeback in September.

We're not done yet 😅

Another nomination for Philip Billing, whose strike against Forest is up for the @premierleague's Goal of the Month 💫

Remind yourself of it from every angle 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Kh5dhoBWdH

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) September 22, 2022

Marcus Tavernier’s curling effort in April’s 2-1 against Fulham also deserves a mention for the quality and importance of the goal. Absolute top bins and a classic inside forward’s goal.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙮 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝, 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙨!"

How could it possibly be anything else?! 🔥@HendyGroup // #BOUFUL pic.twitter.com/NRcuAfjVVW

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 2, 2023

But our pick is the first of Jefferson Lerma’s two goals against Leeds. The move began with a more direct version of the trademark cutback routine Bournemouth have called their own this season. But it ended with Lerma strolling up to the loose ball and shaping his entire body to caress his shot into the top corner. Easily the most aesthetically pleasing goal Bournemouth have scored this season.

How it all started ✨

A lovely finish from the local man 🔥#BOULEE // @HendyGroup pic.twitter.com/i9AxaqYgWr

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) May 1, 2023

Biggest issue they need to fix for next season

Bournemouth conceded 21 goals from set pieces last season, five more than second-worst Nottingham Forest’s 16. Defending balls from wide areas has been a constant weakness of the team’s defence and needs addressing over the summer.

They also need to score more next season. The lack of a proven scorer in the squad has hurt them on multiple occasions. Central midfielder Billing finished the campaign as the team’s top scorer with seven goals while Solanke, with six goals and seven assists, has blossomed into more of a creative forward.

Central midfield also needs addressing as Bournemouth are light in both quality and quantity. Jefferson Lerma is poised to join Crystal Palace following the expiry of his contract next month and if Bournemouth are to control more games next season, they will need more of a ball-playing midfield presence to replace him.

Funniest moment

This has to be Bournemouth clipping up their naysayers and compiling their predictions that the club would be relegated in a video and posting it after they were officially safe.

Come on guys, you knew this was coming 😘 pic.twitter.com/k5L0TvqfD9

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) May 14, 2023

YouTubers, TikTokers, pundits. Nobody was safe.

It was a refreshing break from the monotonous, squeaky-clean image most clubs try to uphold on social media and a clever way to have the last laugh after being ridiculed for most of the season.

Petty? Maybe. But funny? Absolutely.

Weirdest thing the manager said

It’s fair to say O’Neil has said a few questionable things in his first season as a manager. In the build-up to that dramatic loss at Arsenal, he revealed he did not know “the exact detail of the league table” when asked about the relegation battle — adding “I couldn’t tell you who is above us”. By not trying to talk himself into making any grand predictions, O’Neil instead made it seem like he had a very small idea of the job that lay in front of him.

After that Arsenal game, when asked if there was any point where he felt Bournemouth would come away with something after being 2-0 up, his response was a sharp “no”. Following a moment of awkward silence, O’Neil clarified by saying Arsenal’s dominance and relentlessness going forward meant it was always going to be tough to stay in the game.

To his credit, O’Neil has since been much more measured behind the microphone and has shown glimpses of charisma and humour that are a world away from the glum final days under Scott Parker.

The 3-2 defeat at Arsenal was a painful one for Bournemouth. (Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)

Player the fans will happily never see again

Most supporters don’t necessarily have a gripe with a particular player, especially because Bournemouth fans tend to be very loyal to their team. The club recruited well under tricky circumstances in both windows this season and almost every signing has had their moment in the Dorset sun. Given how much their campaign has oscillated between jeopardy and joy (and the fact that it ultimately ended in the latter), the main sentiment among supporters is relief and pride in the players to overcome what once looked inevitable.

Stat that sums them up

Bournemouth’s underlying shot stats this season offer an insight into how they survived the drop. They took fewer shots than any other Premier League team (358) but finished with the joint third-highest non-penalty expected goals per shot (0.11).

This essentially means Bournemouth made up for the fact that they took so few shots by making high-quality shooting chances with the relatively few opportunities they created. Those cutback chances generated shots close to goal, which rank high in expected goals metrics. That level of efficiency in the box was crucial to Bournemouth’s survival. Can they maintain that level of productivity in 2023-24?

Reason to be optimistic for next season

Under the ownership of Bill Foley, Bournemouth supporters have a lot to be optimistic about off the pitch beyond next season. But the American billionaire’s involvement also means there is likely to be increased investment in the squad ahead of next season.

In terms of the players already at the club, the development of exciting youngsters such as Dango Ouattara, Hamed Traore and Tavernier among others is another reason to be optimistic for the 2023-24 campaign. It will also be interesting to see how O’Neil develops in his first full season as a head coach with a proper pre-season to prepare and a more substantial summer window to bolster.

Dango Ouattara has impressed since signing for Bournemouth in January (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Predicted finish for next season

In what should be a more stable campaign, Bournemouth should be aiming to better their 15th place finish next season. With a potentially improved squad, more time to implement specific passages of play and a better understanding of O’Neil’s instructions, anywhere between 10th and 15th should do it — so we are going to go with 12th.

(Header image by Warren Little/Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k25tbGpoZnxzfJFsZmltX2h%2BcK7OrqmnnZ2kwrW0jGtna2pdZ4Buv8SaqqimXaeyt7XEsGSoq5Oeua2t06KloGWSmsG4scSnZKOdn6Wus7DYZpinnF2fvLp7