Who Has Been The AFC Bournemouth 'Player Of The Season' So Far?

The best way to look at the standout performers so far is to go from back to front, so the defence will be analysed first, followed by the midfielders and then finally the attackers.

Bournemouth's defence has been subject to a lot of praise recently, as Marco Rose's side have gone 6 games without conceding a goal in all competitons.

If you had to put the 3 defenders who have been at a consistent high level, personally those are James Hill, Antonio Silva and Adrien Truffert. There is only one of these 3 that has started every single of the last 6 games, and that is Antonio Silva.

The Portuguese's partnership with James Hill is flourishing, and he doesn't seem to look out of place if he is put next to Bafode Diakite as well.

However, the best defender so far has been Adrien Truffert. Both Silva and Hill have had shaky errors and moments in games, but Truffert has been been excellent in both defence and attack. Therefore, he is the nominee from the defence.

Harshly, to be considered as a nominee in this hypothetical award, it is only fair that each player considered has been fit throughout the course of the season. This will mean that due to him missing the last 7 games in all competitions (exactly half of the season), Alex Scott can not be nominated.

Both Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie have been rotated well and managed by Rose, which is understandable due to them both being 2 of the older members of this AFCB squad. Even though both have had standout games and moments of excellence (Christie's hat-trick vs Lincoln & Cook's assist vs Manchester United), neither have played enough to be above the midfield nominee.

As expected, Tyler Adams is the name going forward for the midfielders. Fresh off a MOTM performance against his former side at the weekend, Adams has been exemplary in the midfield in the absence of Scott, and is a key cog to the breaking up of play and progressing the ball forward. 

Now onto the attackers. There are only 2 that can be considered here, that being Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson.

Tavernier has popped up with some important goals, but with 5 goals and 4 assists already this season, Evanilson is the only choice for the attacking nomination. The Brazilian looks unplayable against any defence he comes up against, and has the perfect balance of goalscoring and unselfishness, hence his 4 assists this campaign.

So, out of Truffert, Adams and Evanilson, who deserves the 'POTS so far' award?

For me, it is Evanilson, as Soler has shown that the left hand side is in good hands whenever Truffert is rested, Cook, Christie and Scott all work well together whenever Adams is rested, but no one can replicate the importance of Evanilson to this team.

9 goal involvements in just 12 games is more than impressive, it is a crucial number of contributions, and without him, Bournemouth wouldn't be anywhere near their current position in both the Premier League and Europa League.