Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has insisted he won’t be changing his style or plans for the club, despite his side’s struggles defensively so far.
The Spanish boss has been speaking to Marca about various topics, including his difficult start to life at Bournemouth so far.
He arrived to replace Gary O’Neil in the summer, with Bournemouth looking for him to repeat the job he had done at Rayo Vallecano, where he turned them into a competitive side in La Liga with an attractive brand of football.
The attacking intent has certainly been on show so far, with the Cherries not struggling in that area and indeed playing good football in general.
It has been the other end of the pitch which has proven to be their downfall, with 27 goals conceded so far only four short of Sheffield United, who have the worst record in the league with 31 conceded.
That’s left them 17th in the table and just three points outside the relegation zone, with two wins from 12 games so far.
The defensive issues are something that Iraola is more than aware of, and he’s detailed what he’s doing to help his team improve in that area.
“We knew it was going to be complicated,” he said.
“We had a starting schedule against rivals from above and then it also took us a bit for the team to take the ideas we bring. I hope the victories boost us.
“On an offensive level, we feel that we can do damage… but the other side is having a hard time. We continue to receive many goals, but we are not going to change our idea. Quite the opposite.
“The results have come to us by pressing higher, taking even more risks, sometimes even marking the man! We saw that we were staying in a no-man’s zone, and we suffered. We have reinforced the message.”
