Premier League: How Bournemouth have been so good this season?

The Premier League 2024/25 season has been quite unusual compared to the last five seasons in the English top flight. In the ongoing season, while Liverpool has continued to battle for supremacy like they did under Jurgen Klopp, Manchester City have fallen apart and look away from the title-chasing pack. Cityzens find themselves in the fifth position after 22 games and will hope to finish in the top four, considering they are just two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.

However, what has taken fans by surprise is the emergence of Nottingham Forest as the Champions League spot contenders and AFC Bournemouth’s stupendous record. AFC Bournemouth find themselves in the seventh position with 37 points, three adrift of the fourth-placed Chelsea. 

Since their promotion to the English top flight in 22/23, AFC Bournemouth have tried to improve continuously but they have had their struggles with injuries, talented players leaving the club, and managerial changes. In 22/23, they barely scraped relegation while in the 23/24 season, they finished mid-table.

However, this season, Bournemouth finds itself in a comfortable position and could be eyeing for the European spots. Amidst all these achievements, one question arises:

How have Bournemouth been so good this season and what are the changes that have enabled them?

1. The right manager and the right signings

Getting Andoni Iraola on board has been a revelation for Bournemouth over the last two years. After dismissing O’Neill, Cherries appointed Iraola as their gaffer. While Marcelo Bielsa, former Leeds United manager thrived in the gegen-pressing and Highline football, Iraola drew a leaf out of his book and went to modify it to thrive in chaos that happens on the pitch. 

Iraola spent over €127 million in his first season whereas, at the start of the current season, he has spent €113.8 million to secure his required players. While he spent over €240 million combined over the two seasons, he has also ensured that the club gets back some money too. The net spend has accounted for €180 million, which falls under the PSR limit. What stands out amidst all these signings is equally distributed cost on players and not heavy spending on one single player. This has enabled AFC Bournemouth and the gaffer to implement his style while having a thriving goal-scoring record. 

Bournemouth’s pressing rate is unmatchable. The former AFC Bournemouth player, Dominik Solanke, mentioned that they have trained themselves to press the opposition so much that it has become the side’s second nature. It was very evident against Manchester United, with them cutting off the passing lanes and pouncing upon the players who were about to receive the passes. On average, the side accounts for 50.8 recoveries per 90 in the English top flight, one of the highest in the league. 

2. The chance-creating machines in the chaos

While the team under Andoni Iraola has gone on to create chaos in the midfield with their relentless pressing, the likes of Semenyo, Justin Kluivert, and Semenyo have ensured that the team benefited from the chaos. 

AFC Bournemouth has raked in a lot of numbers and deserves the praise. But these players deserve the flowers too. Kluivert has 13 G/A to his name in the season whereas Semenyo has 9 G/A to his name. While the press has been excellent from the engine room, Semenyo has benefitted from it significantly with him accounting for 3.97 shots per 90 and 1.13 shots on target per game. These numbers put him in the second position across the Premier League for the number of shots. Kluivert also has similar shots on target but he is effective when compared to the number of shots taken per game. 

In the engine room, the intuitive player of the Cherries, Ryan Christie stands tall when it comes to possessions won. He has a big lung capacity that keeps him running across the game. He leads the stats with the possessions won with 136 across the league campaign.

3. Strong Bench at the disposal

While we spoke about the money spent by the club, it has created one thing and it is the strong bench. While the likes of Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola, and Ange Postecoglu have mentioned the non-availability of players resulting in their poor performances and form, Iraola has perfectly rotated the bench even in the absence of the key players. The likes of Sensei, Araujo, Adam Smith, and James Tavernier have remained out due to injury but still, the former Rayo Vallecano manager has been able to get the results. His influence via in-game substitutions has also helped the side. From the bench, 13 goals have been scored which has helped them gain 17 points, the highest in the league. This has made Bournemouth one of the interesting sides to look out for. 

PS: These stats are as of 25th January 2025 and before the kick of GW 23 in the English Premier League