Monday 13 February 2017 19:57, UK
Bournemouth face Manchester City on Monday Night Football with Eddie Howe needing to arrest an alarming run of results. Adam Bate looks at why the loss of Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake has been such a major factor in the team's poor form...
It took Nathan Ake a while to get his opportunity at Bournemouth. Eddie Howe eventually turned to him after a home defeat to Sunderland in November. He did not regret it. His side won at Stoke and kept a clean sheet too - the first time they had achieved that double in 2016. Ake was there for the second time as well, a 3-0 win at Swansea on New Year's Eve.
But that proved to be the last win of his loan spell from Chelsea and there has not been another one for Bournemouth since. With Ake in the team, Howe's men won four out of eight. Without him, they have now won three from 16. It is an indication of just how important the youngster's quality and calm has been in the Bournemouth defence.
It is not as if he has played in easier fixtures. Ake scored a late winner in a dramatic 4-3 win over Liverpool and his final game was in the similarly pulsating draw with Arsenal. Antonio Conte made the call soon after - a moment Howe admits he was dreading. "You sort of hope the phone doesn't ring, or you could just ignore the phone when it does," he said.
Events since have helped explain why Howe was so concerned. Bournemouth have earned only one point from a generous looking fixture list that has seen them face Hull, Watford, Crystal Palace and Everton, conceding six against the latter last weekend. So what is it that Bournemouth are missing so badly in Ake?
Building from the back is a big part of Bournemouth's approach to the game and in the young Dutchman they had a player well accustomed to that style. "He looks as if he has been playing in our team for years," said Howe. Ake's composed use of the ball gave Bournemouth a good platform from which to construct their attacks.
His pass completion rate of 87.9 per cent for the Cherries was significantly superior to fellow defenders Steve Cook (82.3 per cent) and Simon Francis (79 per cent). That accurate use of the ball also means making fewer mistakes too. So while Ake did not make a single error leading to a shot on goal, his erstwhile team-mates have regularly made costly mistakes.
According to Opta, Cook has made three such errors this season - one of which led to a goal for Alexis Sanchez against Arsenal. Francis, meanwhile, has made five - no Premier League player has made more - and that includes mistakes directly leading to goals for Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Everton's Romelu Lukaku last time out.
But with Ake it is about more than the mistakes he doesn't make with the ball at his feet. He is a superior defender without the ball as well. Excellent in one-on-one situations, he ranks among the top 10 defenders in the Premier League for being dribbled past the least often and makes a tackle more regularly than the other nine players on that list too.
It is fair to say that Ake was in the form of his life last month. In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, he said: "I got confidence and the trust of the manager and everything was flowing. Every game I was learning more, picking up little things, watching clips and talking to the manager. I felt as if I was growing into a better player."
All of which makes it a pity that when Bournemouth face Manchester City on Monday Night Football, the 21-year-old talent will be watching his old team-mates on television with Howe having failed to secure a deadline-day deal to bring Ake back to the club for the rest of the season. Aside from an FA Cup run out, he is yet to feature for Chelsea since his recall.
Of course, Ake has the quality and flexibility to be a useful asset for the champions-elect. In particular, Conte has identified his ability to operate as a left-sided centre-back or in the left wing-back role occupied by Marcos Alonso. But whatever Chelsea's plans for Ake, it is clear that the more immediate need for his services is at Bournemouth.
Indeed, if their current record of 13 points from 16 games without him were to continue through to the end of the season, Bournemouth would finish on 37 points and face the very real prospect of relegation. Howe and his team must find a way to cope or they could find themselves in serious trouble by the time Ake belatedly returns with Chelsea in April.
