EPL – What We Learned – West Ham United 3 AFC Bournemouth...

EPL – What We Learned – West Ham United 3 AFC Bournemouth 4 [VIDEO]

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AFC Bournemouth managed their first ever Premier League win after overcoming a shambolic West Ham United in a seven goal thriller at Upton Park on Saturday night.

The lion’s share of goals went to Callum Wilson, who secured a hat-trick in the 79th minute. Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Modibo Maiga and Marc Pugh also found the net over the course of the turbulent outing.

West Ham looked a side far from that which overcame Arsenal two weeks ago. With injuries to Reece Oxford and Mauro Zarate, manager Slaven Bilic adopted a noticeably makeshift squad, with Kevin Nolan playing in an unfamiliar wide-right role. While Eddie Howe and Bournemouth took a very similar shape to their first two games- despite having lost on both occasions.

It was clear before the match that both teams were in the process of finding their form. In the aftermath, both sides will be analysing the positives and negatives that can be taken away from the game – Bournemouth probably more enthusiastically having recorded the three points.

Callum Wilson up to Premier League standards

From the moment of Bournemouth’s promotion, Callum Wilson was going to have to be one of the players that performed if the Cherries were going to stay up, but he has looked a bit underwhelming up front of late. Wilson has had very little in the way of opportunities, and even less in the way of product.

The top goalscorer in the Championship last season, the 23-year-old looked like having all the right attributes to be a success in the world’s most competitive league. Fast, strong, persistent and possessing an eye for goal, Wilson was the bookmaker’s favorite to lead the line for AFC Bournemouth. After a slow start, fans might have been reevaluating his potential.

With his performance last night, the young Englishmen has proven his pedigree. Two goals in the first-half and a penalty in the second rounding-out his first ever professional hat-trick.

Aaron Creswell the focal point of defensive frailties for West Ham

It seems obvious that a team which concedes four goals has problems in the backline. But for perspective, consider that out of the four starting defenders, one was red carded, one was substituted in the first-half (without an injury) and another made two serious defensive blunders that directly led to goals.

Left-back Aaron Creswell was perhaps solely responsible for West Ham’s poor start to the match, dispossessed by Simon Francis on the edge of his own box, who crossed the ball into an on-target Wilson. Minutes later, the ball would come to his feet for a clearance, but instead he passed it back towards the penalty spot, out of the reach of his center-backs and straight into the path of the Cherries striker.

Angelo Ogbonna did not stand out as an obvious hindrance at the back, but was substituted in the 35th minute in favor of Tomkins, who could do very little to stop a persistent Bournemouth side.

Carl Jenkinson was having a game to forget even before he got the red card, doing very little to get in the way of Pugh, who easily side stepped him and slotted the ball home. The red card was a double-whammy incident for Jenkinson, after first being caught in possession and secondly giving away a ‘last man’ foul inside the West Ham box.

Bournemouth are here to play ‘their’ way

This is not just something we have learned from this one fixture against West Ham, but from the opening three matches. Despite their opposition, Bournemouth have started every game eager to attack and eager to play games their way.

They have dominated possession in two of their first three fixtures and have never managed less than 10 shots per game. These stats are reflective of the style of play that saw them dominate the second division last season, and that they will no doubt be trying to replicate in this year’s Premier League.

Tyrone Mings yet to play:

Again another factor that has been developing over the past three matches, Tyrone Mings is yet to play a single minute of Premier League football.

The star signing is the victim of two separate factors.

The first is Howe and his loyalty to the lineup that won him the Championship, meaning that he has instead opted to play familiar face Charlie Daniels at left-back. The second factor is just how well Daniels has been playing. In each of the last three fixtures, he has never give Howe a reason to question his allegiance and if anything has been a stand-out for the Cherries. Although they conceded three goals on Saturday night, Daniels kept his side of the field relatively quiet.

It seems as though it may take quite some time before the Premier League audience actually get to watch the highly touted young defender – in the meantime, full credit to Daniels.

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