It’s the day of the match so that can only mean one thing: press conference time!
Reporter: What are your thoughts on Tottenham parting company with Mauricio Pochettino?
Me: It’s an unfortunate part of the game and could easily be me in the same situation with a few poor results. It’s never nice to see another manager out of work.
Reporter: Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has taken the perhaps bold step of placing Virgil Van Dijk on the transfer list. Is that a decision you agree with and indeed in the same position, would you have done it?
Me: No comment.
Reporter: You have the opportunity to climb out the relegation zone with a win here, how important does that make this match?
Me: It’s a must-win, it’s as simple as that.
Tactics
This is the formation I’ll be going for against Bournemouth. With their 2 strikers, I didn’t feel comfortable with Afobe and Defoe being matched man for man by 2 centre-backs, so adding a third gives us a bit of cover. The 3 man central midfield of Sanches, Carroll and Mesa should outnumber their 2 central players whilst Bony and Abraham together should hopefully cause the Bournemouth defence plenty of problems and finally get us that elusive win!
