Roberto De Zerbi
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Roberto De Zerbi’s message to Brighton before Wembley FA Cup Semifinal against Manchester United #BHAFC

April 22, 2023
The Seagulls are preparing for an FA Cup semi-final against a Manchester United side beaten 3-0 at Sevilla last night. Head coach De Zerbi was told his side had been made favourites to reach the final in some quarters. He said: “We are excited to play the semi-final, to play in Wembley but we are focused only on the game. “We want to play respecting our own quality, our style, and with emotion because these are good things feel. “Emotion, because football is emotion first of all, but we have to be clear and relaxed to find the right to win the game. “If we want to progress (as a team), if we want to improve in mentality, we have to play naturally. We have to not suffer to the pressure, or maybe we have to love the pressure. “We must get used to feeling this pressure. Because to play this type of game, it has to be an honour not a problem. But I have no doubt. “We are ready to play a great game. In terms of mentality, we are growing, and I think we can show our quality.”
christian eriksen
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Christian Eriksen gives Manchester United setback warning to Brighton before FA Cup SemiFinal #MUFC

April 21, 2023
The Red Devils were reeling after their 3-0 defeat by Sevilla in the Europa League on Thursday. They go into their FA Cup date with Albion missing defenders Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire. But they pride themselves on responding to setbacks this season and expect a big reaction against the Seagulls. Eriksen said: “We had a few of the bigger setbacks this season but in the end, we can see where we are. “I mean, we were in a quarter-final in the Europa League after everything else and now in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. “So we can still be proud of where we are but obviously we want to achieve more. Sunday’s now where we can prove our point.” Asked if playing such a huge game is the best thing to get over Thursday’s humbling, Eriksen said: “Yeah, I think so. “I mean, it’s definitely going to change our feelings towards the next game. “Whoever we’re going to play after this, we want to show that we’re better than what we did today, want to give something back to the fans, and to the club. “It’s a big disappointment but there’s a new focus in three days’ time, and that’s another very big game so I’m sure we’ll be up for that as well.” United’s hammering in Spain ranks alongside the 4-0 defeat at Brentford and 7-0 hammering at Liverpool as lowpoints of the campaign. They followed the defeat by Bees, which itself came after losing at home to Albion, by beating Liverpool 2-1. United have not lost consecutive matches since then, a trend Albion must halt if they are to get to the final. The seven-goal Anfield nightmare was followed by a 4-1 win over Real Betis. There was also a bad experience this term at Manchester City, where the 6-3 margin of defeat flattered them. They bounced back from that game by winning at Omonia Nicosia and Everton in quick succession. United will look to those results to boost them for Sunday, as well as the return in Seville of Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw as half-time substitutes. United boss Erik ten Hag said: “I think we showed in the past we can quickly bounce back. “We did it between games many times this season but what we have to learn is to start games better, with more desire, more composure on the ball and when you get the setback you have to deal with it and carry on.” United’s Europa League exit will be compounded if they put in a similar performance on Sunday. Ten Hag’s side lost at home to the Seagulls in his first game in charge and knows he has a big job to lift them for Wembley. He said: “I already started. We lift them and we have to pick them up. “But also we have to face that we let ourselves down, we let the fans down and if you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need other character.”
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Gary O’Neil on Lloyd Kelly after a stop/start season #AFCB

April 21, 2023
Named skipper by previous head coach Scott Parker last term, Bristolian Kelly led Cherries as they secured promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking. However, since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the 25-year-old has been blighted by injury in what O’Neil described as a ‘stop-start season’. With Kelly dipping in and out of the team, O’Neil took the decision to name goalkeeper Neto as club captain, with Adam Smith remaining vice-captain. Kelly has enjoyed his longest spell in the team this campaign in recent weeks, recording six consecutive starts. Asked if Kelly’s improved form was in response to the removal of the captaincy, O’Neil told the Daily Echo: “He's still the same. Still very vocal, still trains really well. His performances have been excellent as well, since his return this time. “So really pleased with where Lloyd is. Nothing to do with the captaincy, really. I think he's just had a stop-start season and he's managed to put some real good work in back-to-back weeks recently, and you can see the benefits of that in his performances. “Lloyd, he's always been really important to us and last few weeks has sort of just been confirmation of that. “He’s an impressive defender. I thought he was very impressive last season in a group that were chasing promotion. “He’s had a tricky season, sort of stop-start a little bit, injury-wise. But whenever he’s injured, you’re keen to get him back very quickly, which shows how important he is to the group and the team.” During Kelly’s time on the south coast, he has been used as both a left-back and centre-half. Primarily trusted as a centre-back under Parker, his recent run in the side has seen him used as a full-back, with O’Neil comfortable with Kelly in either role. “I think he can do both,” he continued. “We use him quite low in it as well. “We generally have one full-back high and one low and the low one has suited Lloyd. “But he can play both. I don’t see any issue with him playing left-side centre-back or left-back. I think he has real good physical attributes that can help him with both. “We’re always working with him on improving the attributes that he needs to play in both positions. It’s a real good quality to have that you can be an expert at both. We try to get him to that level.”
Ruben Selles
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Southampton manager Ruben Selles reveals everyone in the squad dis working hard and defends his team selection #SAINTSFC

April 21, 2023
The Spaniard started the eventual 2-0 home defeat versus Crystal Palace last weekend without a recognised striker, with £18million Paul Onuachu on the bench. It was the second successive match Saints had set up without a traditional number nine following the loss to Manchester City – in which substitute forward Sekou Mara scored their only goal. Selles was asked if he is going to change tact and put Onuachu in for his first start since losing to Leeds United in February, in Selles’s second game as boss. However, Selles, facing media ahead of the trip to Emirates Stadium, was defiant in his answer and insisted: "I don't make my line-up or tactics to do with what anyone else thinks. "We need to be competitive in the game until we can score the goal. It is not about one number nine, this is a different challenge for all of us so the solution is not to put one, two or three strikers on, it's about putting people in situations. "We are going to try and press them and win the balls high as possible to win the game," he added. “If we play our game we have options to win the game. “We know what we can do if we can keep the performance as we did in the first half against Manchester City. "It has been desperate from the very first second but the only difference now is we are running out of games. We haven't transformed performance to points. "In every game that the result is not for us, it is hard. Everybody is working hard and the most important thing is you wake up the next day to fix the mistakes."
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Gary O’Neil insists Bournemouth are ‘still in a relegation scrap’ #AFCB

April 21, 2023
Before wins away at Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, Cherries sat in the relegation zone. However, those victories have now moved O’Neil’s men six points clear of the bottom three with seven matches remaining. They host West Ham United on Sunday (2pm). Reflecting on the last-gasp 3-2 victory at Tottenham, O’Neil said: “It was a big three points for us, of course. “They all are, throughout the season. But the closer you get to the end, they feel bigger. “And being away from home at a big club was obviously a big win for us, and a big performance as well to go with it. “I’m looking forward to getting back home. “We’ve obviously had two away games on the trot and it will be a very tough game against a West Ham side that can be stubborn and hard to break down. “We need a good atmosphere here on Sunday and will try and make sure the lads are in a good place to go and attack the game and make the Vitality what it can be when it gets bouncing.” Asked if securing three wins in a row would make him feel confident of avoiding relegation, boss O’Neil added: “I’m just trying to win the next game. “Whether it’s three on the trot or not, it doesn’t make any difference. We need more points, definitely, 33 is not going to be enough. “As we were two weeks ago before we beat Leicester and Tottenham, just desperate to add another three. “The focus hasn’t changed, it hasn’t switched. We understand that we’re still in a scrap to make sure that we’re in this division next season. “So this week is going to be a big one for us. It starts on Sunday where three points would give us another step towards us achieving what we set out to.”
Gary O’Neil
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- AFC Bournemouth’s Gary O’Neil on West Ham and their European achievements #AFCB #WHUFC

April 21, 2023
Hammers face Belgian side Gent in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals this evening (kick-off 8pm), with the tie delicately poised after West Ham were held to a 1-1 draw away on the continent last week. David Moyes rested numerous players for the trip to Belgium with a view of playing a stronger team in their clash with league leaders Arsenal, the decision paying off as the Hammers came from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 with the Gunners on Sunday. Cherries host West Ham on Sunday at the Vitality Stadium, with kick-off at 2pm. Discussing West Ham’s game with Gent, O’Neil shared: “It’s a home game for them, it's a chance for them to win a big game in front of their fans. "They had a good performance in front of their home fans on Sunday, against Arsenal. “They've got world class players that are used to playing in big games. “This will be a big game for them come Sunday, so I'll be very surprised if West Ham turn up here anything less than 100 per cent full throttle, ready to go because it's obviously a very important game for them as well as it is us. “So I don't see us having any advantage over that. "I think our real focus is on arriving on Sunday in the best shape we can possibly be and try and ask West Ham as many questions as possible.”
Theo Walcott
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Southampton ace Theo Walcott makes ’emotional’ Arsenal admission ahead of must-win #ArsenalFC #SAINTSFC

April 20, 2023
Ex-England international Walcott made 397 appearances and scored 108 goals for the Gunners following a move from St Mary’s in 2006. The 34 year old has already scored against Arsenal for Saints back in December 2020, while initially on loan before making a permanent return to his boyhood side. Now, Walcott is likely to line up against Arsenal again but this time with the Gunners chasing the Premier League title and Saints facing relegation to the Championship. There is no time for sentimentality in the forward, as Ruben Selles’s charges sit four points adrift of safety with seven matches to play. “Every game is a win, it’s as simple as that. We need points, points. It will be an emotional game for myself, personally,” Walcott admitted. “But I’ve got to go out there and do a job and that’s to try and play as well and as hard as I can for this club and see where that takes us. “Arsenal are top of the league for a reason, we get that. We’re realists, I am particularly, so we’re not stupid, we know it will be a tough game.” Walcott added: “But a Friday night game, you never know. Hopefully, we’ll catch them in a doze but we’ll see. It’s going to be a very interesting battle.” The experienced forward has been called on by Selles to help lead a young dressing room out of potential disaster, with two managers sacked already this campaign. Walcott and the senior leadership group have been unable to shake off a mental scourge that has followed conceding the first goal in Premier League matches. In all competitions, Saints have lost 14 games by just one goal this season – including a number of six-pointers versus relegation rivals. “I don’t know what you want me to say about that,” Walcott said. “In the Premier League you need to get the first goal, it’s so important. “The level, we’re playing a team who has a lot of confidence at this time with Roy (Hodgson), they’ve had a complete change and it’s working for them and everything we’re doing at the moment…it’s just not quite going our way. “We need to just essentially forget about this game, we can’t change anything now. I know it’s such a cliche but we’re looking at the next game now. “But you’re looking at other results now too, it’s as simple as that, you do. You look at results and make sure we don’t get too cut adrift now.”
Ryan Christie
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Ryan Christie believes Dango Ouattara will be a big player for Bournemouth #AFCB

April 19, 2023
Ouattara made an eye-catching start to his Cherries career, providing an assist in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest just days after his £20million arrival from FC Lorient. The 21-year-old also set up goals in games against Newcastle United and Liverpool, named in the starting XI for 11 games in succession. However, the Burkina Faso international had struggled to replicate that form in recent weeks, substituted at half-time against Fulham, before then being taken off during the first half at Leicester City earlier this month. A week later, Ouattara began a Cherries game on the bench for the first time, only to be introduced with 11 minutes to play to devastating effect. The winger scored the dramatic winner, deep into stoppage time as Cherries secured a 3-2 win over Spurs to massively boost their survival bid. That goal, his first for the club, came shortly after Arnaut Danjuma looked to have rescued a point for the hosts. Asked what it was like watching the final minutes unfold whilst watching on from the bench having been substituted, Christie told the Daily Echo: “A big day, a big win. Honestly, I genuinely think we deserved to win. “Obviously frustrated with the first goal and then we dominated the whole first half. The second half was a bit different, it was a bit sticky. “But I think we did well, they didn’t really create too much, although they obviously dominated possession second half. “Their second goal I think is offside, but we don’t get it. And then Dango comes up with a bit of genius, chops inside and goal. Buzzing.” Put to him most people would have thought Ouattara would take the shot on on his favoured left foot, rather than cut back inside past Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and slot in right-footed, Christie added: “So did I and I think everybody did! “He chops inside and what a finish as well, especially so late in the game. I’m buzzing for him. “What a way for you to get your first goal. I’m delighted for him, delighted for all the boys. “I thought the defenders – Chris Mepham was ridiculous, so good. Same with Jack Stephens. Because that’s their main threat obviously, (Heung-min) Son and (Harry) Kane. And we dealt with them pretty well.” Asked how big a boost that goal will give Ouattara going forwards, the Scotland international said: “Absolutely. What a time, especially with the run-in as well coming up now. “With the attributes he’s got, he’s going to be a big player for us. “Hopefully he can kick on now as well between now and the end of the season.” Jaidon Anthony, who replaced Christie during the second half, said of Ouattara: “I think it (his quality) has been clear to see from the moment he came in really. “Obviously last week (at Leicester) it probably wasn’t his best game, I think he’d be the first to say that. “But he’s been top for us and I’m very happy he managed to get the goal that he deserves, because he’s helped us so much already.”
Theo Walcott
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Southampton attacker Theo Walcott says players must take responsibility as relegation is just about confirmed #SAINTSFC

April 18, 2023
Despite a decent opening half an hour, Saints folded after the break as Eberechi Eze struck twice in the second half to condemn Ruben Selles’s side to their third-straight defeat. The result leaves Saints bottom of the Premier League table but the gap to safety remains at four points though following Everton’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham. READ MORE: Three young players Saints should build around next season And as Saints move closer and closer to the Championship for the first time since 2012, Walcott has pleaded for the squad to remain positive and ignore outside noise while taking responsibility for their own personal performances. “Of course, it’s disappointing,” the 34-year-old said on Saturday afternoon. “I had a really good chance and should have done a lot better so I take responsibility for that.  “But you need to get the first goal in the Premier League otherwise it’s an uphill battle. We’re a team who don’t score many goals anyway. I think we actually were playing pretty good football in the first half, we just needed that goal.  “Then when they scored I think it took the stuffing out of us a little bit, especially the way we started the second half, a bit disappointing from all of us. We never really recovered from it for whatever reason.  “But essentially we need to try and stay as positive as we can. It’s a really difficult situation obviously, there’s rumbles going on in the background as well which is frustration and I get it. "As players we understand the frustration, we see it, but we need to stay positive and not start pointing fingers cause that won’t get us anywhere.” The full-time whistle on Saturday was met with boos by those who stayed at St Mary’s for the conclusion of another disappointing afternoon while there were smatterings of chants including ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ during the team’s meek surrender. Asked further by the Daily Echo about the ‘rumblings’ he mentioned, Walcott responded: “It just is what it is. When you’re at the bottom of the table there’s going to be a lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger. Which is fine, I get it, we understand. “We don’t go in wanting to lose games, we want to win. We want to do it for our fans, for each other, for our families and it’s not working at the moment. Theo Walcott reacts after missing a chance to make it 1-0 against Crystal Palace. (Image: Richard Crease) “We will all stick together as a group and that’s all we can do. We can’t let the outside world affect us. "We have to stay in our bubble essentially and look after each other. Don’t start pointing fingers, that will get us nowhere, there would be little cliques and we would just hit a wall. And we don’t want that. "Because we still have points to play for. I want to stay really positive in a difficult situation. Because if you stay negative then it’s just a downward spiral.” Saints now have seven games to save their Premier League status and with fixtures still to play against Arsenal, Newcastle United, Brighton, and Liverpool - the first three of those away from home - it will be a mammoth challenge to get out of the hole they find themselves in. “There will be a big group of us that will try to build morale,” Walcott said of what comes next as Saints attempt to regroup from a damaging defeat.  “The manager is the main part of that, of course. The older guys and experienced players will try and do their best in a difficult time. But you have to take a little bit of responsibility for yourself as players and build yourself up. It’s not just down to the older players and the manager.  “You need to be able to work and we can’t be holding each other’s hands all the time. We’re there to help but you have to help yourself as well.  “Essentially we’re at that stage now and players will realise that and if they haven’t realised it already, then we’re finished. It’s a very interesting journey we’ve been on this season, there’s been a lot of change, a lot of disruption, a lot of discomfort for people.”
Roberto De Zerbi
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Roberto De Zerbi wants to help Julio Enciso hit new heights #BHAFC

April 18, 2023
The 19-year-old forward from Paraguay fired into the top corner to secure the club’s first ever league win at Chelsea. His goal was just part of his most exciting performance yet for the club. The 2-1 success keeps the Seagulls’ push for Europe on track follows his late strike in the recent success at Bournemouth. Roberto De Zerbi highlighted the fact he sent Enciso on before the more experienced Danny Welbeck as Albion made injury-enforced substitutions. The head coach added: “Enciso is one of my players and I believe in him. “He is improving. I think he can improve more. “I think he finished playing after his goal and I don’t want to see like this. “He has to think first of all of the squad, the team and then for himself. “But I’m helping him. For me it’s not a problem. “If he wants to become a great player, he has to improve in mentality and my work is to help my young players to progress.” Enciso said he would never forget his afternoon at Stamford Bridge as he sparkled even before the goal. Get more Albion stories delivered to your inbox every day by signing up to our Albion newsletter He added: “I have been trying to score a goal like that and my manager has a lot of belief in me. “I always do my absolute best when opportunities like that come my way.”
Jaidon Anthony
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Jaidon Anthony and Ryan Christie think arriving late may be good for Cherries to win games #AFCB

April 18, 2023
Due to a traffic incident on the A406, Cherries’ team coach got stuck as they travelled from their hotel to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They finally arrived at 2.15pm, an hour later than planned. Kick-off was pushed back from 3pm to 3.15pm, with boss Gary O’Neil keen for it to be delayed even further to reduce the risk of his players picking up injuries. Cherries fell behind, but eventually emerged 3-2 victors. Discussing the pre-match delay, Christie told the Daily Echo: “I felt fine. There was a bit of traffic or an accident or something on the way. “I was happy enough with the delayed kick-off. I didn’t want to wait too much longer than that. “I actually prefer having less time going into a game. “I think it happened at QPR last season and we played well as well. So no problems. “Maybe we should be later to games more often!” Jaidon Anthony, who replaced Christie during the second half, added: “It was madness before the game. “We were sat there still for a very long time and sort of didn’t feel like we were going to get there. “It was obviously a quick warm-up and I think the boys did well to regain focus and switch on to the job we had at hand.”