CHARLIE Daniels says the onus is on him to adapt his game in order to help Jordon Ibe shine in a Cherries shirt.
Club record signing Ibe has started all of his team’s Premier League matches this season, but the £15m winger has lasted beyond 70 minutes only twice in those 10 games.
Nevertheless, there have been enough glimpses of the former Liverpool player’s talent in his nascent Cherries career to suggest he will prove a valuable asset for Eddie Howe’s side.
He caught the eye in recent home victories over Everton and Hull. And one of the plus points from an otherwise disappointing afternoon at Middlesbrough last Saturday was the sight of Ibe and Daniels forging a handy left sided alliance.
Asked by the Daily Echo if he believes he is developing a productive understanding with Ibe, Daniels said: “I do. When new players come in, it’s a case of getting to know them, how they play, their strengths and their weaknesses.
“As the player who is playing behind him, it’s up to me to adapt, not him. I’ve been studying the way he plays and trying to learn all about his movements, while he learns how we play as a club.
“The relationship is starting to form now and I think you saw that in some of our play at Middlesbrough.”
With Ibe at his destructive best when he is running at defenders, and Daniels a full-back in the adventurous, modern-day mould, the duo relish trying to wreak havoc in opposition territory.
It was noticeable during the 2-0 defeat at Riverside Stadium, however, that the job of containing Adama Traore – the Boro right winger, whose scorching pace had tormented Arsenal seven days earlier – was very much a twin effort.
“Traore was on our minds, because we saw what he did to Arsenal,” said Daniels. “We knew we had to be at our best defensively to nullify him. I thought, in the main, we did that.
“Then, going forward, I thought me and Jordon caused them some problems.”
Ibe was withdrawn on the hour in the north east. His 79-minute outing at West Ham on the campaign’s second day was the 20-year-old’s longest shift in a Cherries shirt so far.
Nevertheless, Howe last week promised to be patient with Ibe, before adding that he is anticipating the London-born player will improve “very quickly”. And Daniels, 10 years his team-mate’s senior, insists it is incumbent on him to help Ibe become accustomed to the demands of playing for his new side.
“As an elder statesman in the team, that’s my responsibility, not only with Jordon, but with all of the youngsters,” said Daniels.
“We have quite a young team now so, for us as a group to stay together and to build together, it’s up to me and the other older lads to help the younger players develop the same mindset we have – and to teach them how to play the Bournemouth way.”
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