BOSS Gary O’Neil believes tonight’s 3-0 score-line against Manchester United was “harsh” on Cherries, insisting: “I thought we were very good.” Cherries trailed 1-0 at half-time to a Casemiro volley, with Luke Shaw doubling the tally early in the second half. Marcus Rashford wrapped up the victory in the closing stages, as Cherries saw Philip Billing and Jaidon Anthony efforts stopped by goalkeeper David De Gea. Assessing his side’s performance against United,
Gary O’Neil said: “I thought we were very good. I thought 3-0 was harsh on us. I thought we had some real good chances. The first goal was disappointing of course, because we had kept them at bay really and hadn’t been under too much threat. At 0-0 I thought the boys had nailed the out-of-possession shape, broke out a few times. So to concede from a wide free-kick when you’re 0-0 and well in the game was tough for them, because they didn’t deserve it. Then you go in at half-time, try and be slightly more aggressive, press slightly more often. Same shape, just try and press slightly more often. Get caught getting one slightly wrong when they score, 2-0 and then it’s a tough ask. But the response again from that moment, I thought the boys were excellent. We had six big chances, David De Gea making good saves. And I thought the majority of Man Utd’s chances came once we had opened the pitch up. There was lots to be pleased with.”
Cherries have now lost all four matches since returning from the World Cup break, failing to find the net in any.
Gary O’Neil added: “The important thing for me is that it looked like us today. As it has done apart from the Palace game I think, since I took the job. Every game has looked like us, for large spells at least. Obviously we lost a couple of leads in the games before the break, but if you perform like that, I thought we were well-organised, I thought we picked our times well to press. We had a large per cent of possession for a newly-promoted team away at Man United. We had over 40 per cent of the ball and created big chances. No-one wants to lose 3-0, but we didn’t deserve to lose 3-0. But if you are going to lose 3-0, that’s the way you do it. I’m pleased with large parts of the performance. If we produce that every week, we’ll climb the table, no problem. It needs to look like that all the time.”
