Early defensive lapses and a lack of aerial presence leave Marco Rose’s side vulnerable, putting immediate pressure on new specialist coaching to fix the Cherries' dead-ball woes.
Since the arrival of Marco Rose, AFC Bournemouth have conceded from set pieces in both of their opening Premier League games. Many AFCB fans will also argue that Cherries are lucky to have not conceded 4 set piece goals in their opening 2 games, due to Marc Guehi missing an open goal in Cherries 2-1 defeat vs Man City, and Jarrad Branthwaite forcing a great reflex save out of Djordje Petrovic in the first half of Saturday's draw with Everton.
When the club announced that Rose was bringing in a designated set piece coach midway through the clubs pre season preparations, it came with a weight of expectation that there would be improvements at both ends of the pitch from set plays.
REUTERS/Toby MelvilleAgainst Manchester City, Bournemouth looked particularly toothless when attacking set pieces, with many corners not getting past the first man, reminiscent of when it felt like every single set play wouldn't beat the near post during Jason Tindall's spell as manager of the club.
The lack of threat and ever-present struggle when opposing teams are putting dangerous crosses from a dead ball into the box could also stem from the lack of height in both the attack and defence. Both Evanilson and James Hill are 183cm (6 foot), and despite Antonio Silva being 187cm (6 foot 2 inches), the Portuguese has only scored 10 goals in his 189 professional games.
This shows a clear lack of height from Cherries focal point in the attack and both of their central defenders, and even though all 3 of the players are 6 foot or above, in modern day football defenders, and many strikers tend to be even taller than that.
With Marc Guehi being left completely unmarked at the back post for the header that the Englishmen miraculously missed, it could also indicate that Bournemouth are taking a more zonal approach to defending set pieces, and there was a lack of discipline when defending that corner.
Changes will need to be made quickly, as teams like Aston Villa ended up having a reputation for their set piece coach, who has since moved on to join Chelsea under Xabi Alonso, due to the Villains success when creating innovative methods to scoring from corners and free kicks.
Cherries are known for their struggles of defending set pieces, and will want that reputation to change quickly, and for Nicolas Gagnon to show why he was bought into the club for the 2026/27 season.
Reuters/John Sibley