Previous short-term focus on transfers has left Cherries catching-up

Even after thrashing the Dorset club 9-0 at Anfield, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp called upon the Cherries board to strengthen their team.

• 'You need backing' - Klopp says Parker has done 'outstanding job' at Cherries
• Scott Parker admits 9-0 hammering at Liverpool was his 'most painful day' in football
• O'Neil: Cherries team 'needs some help' as squad 'basically the same' as last year's 

But how did we get here?

Simply, recruitment prior to the start of this campaign in the Championship was seemingly focused on the near future, rather than the bigger impact beyond the end of each season.

Given the situation Cherries found themselves in - chasing a lucrative return to the Premier League - that was, at times, understandable.

Eight players that played more than 10 games during Cherries’ most recent Premier League season, the 2019-20 campaign, remain at the club following relegation two years ago. 

Cherries spent two seasons in the second tier, spurning an opportunity to instantly bounce back in year one with play-off defeat to Brentford.

Whilst recent results have seen them slip towards the drop zone, Cherries are yet to finish a match week in the bottom three, despite calls from Parker and now O’Neil for reinforcements.

In fact, prior to his dismissal in August, Parker suggested it was weaker than the team that earnt promotion last season. O’Neil did not outright agree with the statement, but he said it was “basically the same” as last year’s team – hardly a glowing reference.

• COMMENT: Shades of Parker to O'Neil's call for further strengthening to Cherries squad

Cherries now enter another window midway through a campaign looking for stopgaps, quick solutions to a problem of their own making.

The inactivity in regard to incomings during Cherries’ first transfer window in the Championship was understandable, the drafting in of loan players whilst the club balanced the books with sales following relegation from the top-flight.

It could be argued that the playing squad that remained after relegation was strong enough to win a return to the big time at the first attempt.

Nathan Ake represented a big return on Cherries' intial investment when he joined Manchester City, doubling their money by receiving £41million, whilst Callum Wilson left for Newcastle United at a fee believed to be around £20million.

Still, Cherries had young talents in the form of Lloyd Kelly and Dominic Solanke to replace the outgoing stars.

The opposite was true when it came to replacing Aaron Ramsdale, the Arsenal-bound starlet replaced with veteran Asmir Begovic, who himself returned from a loan spell with AC Milan, the Bosnian one of the better goalkeepers in the division.

Ben Pearson is now the sole addition from the 2020-21 campaign still at the club, with the midfielder seemingly going spare on the bench.

Still marooned in the second tier, further sales were required in the summer of 2021.

Without top-tier football, there was no hope of keeping Arnaut Danjuma, who went to Villarreal to light up La Liga and the Champions League.

Although he did not set the world alight during his stint on the south coast, Diego Rico was the only senior left-back at the club, and now 18 months on from his departure back to Spain, Cherries are yet to sign a permanent replacement. 

Leif Davis arrived from Leeds and struggled to establish himself, being used sparringly and in a myriad of positions other than left-back.

Instead Jordan Zemura was thrown into the deep end, where he excelled.

The experiment was repeated in the top flight, but Zemura has not quite nailed down his position in the same way.

With his contract expiring at the end of this summer, there is a distinct possibility Cherries could have no senior left-back heading into next season.

Adam Smith has been used on the left in the interim, but he is not the long-term answer.

A like-for-like Danjuma replacement has yet to be found, but credit where credit is due - the addition of Marcus Tavernier has at least given Cherries some attacking spark.

Cherries’ toothless performances are no surprise with his absence due to injury, the depth other Premier League teams can draw upon absent at the Vitality Stadium.

Of course, the arrival of Jamal Lowe and Ryan Christie late on in the summer of 2021 added enough attacking impetus for promotion from the Championship.

But since promotion, Lowe has been an after thought, with neither Parker or O'Neil seemingly deeming him Premier League quality.

Parker managed to squeeze enough out of veteran Gary Cahill before he reached the end of his perceived usefulness, the former England captain jettisoned from the starting XI half-way through the campaign, following the arrival of Nat Phillips on deadline day in January.

It was a similar story behind the first signing of the Parker era, Emi Marcondes. As soon as a better player was found, he was dropped from the team, left kicking his heels with a contract until 2024.

To be fair, the last winter window was effective but inefficient. Seven players arrived, with only the aforementioned Phillips making more than 10 starts.

Of course, Kieffer Moore was ruled out for two months following a broken foot on his debut, whilst Siriki Dembele made 13 appearances, scoring twice.

But James Hill and Freddie Woodman were spectators, their game time limited to an FA Cup run that ended to Boreham Wood in the fourth round, and in the case of Hill, a few minutes during a win over Barnsley in the league.

Todd Cantwell was thrust into the first team, before being bombed out and promptly forgotten about.

Ethan Laird took weeks to get up to speed, or at least Parker’s interpretation of it, making four starts but missing from 13 out of 22 matchday squads for league fixtures.

That appeared to be the theme of last season, cost-effective additions combined with development squad players to hold the line until the arrival of further reinforcements.

In certain areas, permanent and noteworthy reinforcements are yet to arrive.

However, kudos must be given for the fact that it got the job done in terms of helping Cherries to ensure promotion – but could that short-term focus cost the club this season?

When boiled down, the fact is that 13 of the 20 players Cherries signed during their two seasons in the Championship no longer play for the club.

Out of the remaining seven, only Christie and Moore have reached double digits in terms of Premier League games, Marcondes, Dembele, Pearson, Hill, and Lowe totalling 311 minutes across 12 appearances.

Hill is yet to make his Premier League debut, and will have a while longer to wait following his loan move to Hearts.

Ironically, despite the 20-year-old not playing any role in Cherries’ promotion, he appears to be the only product of long-term planning, his capture securing a player for the future.

Summer recruitment was no doubt hampered by the impending takeover, an owner reluctant to spend too much despite the frontloading of funds via a loan from Australian bank Macquarie, offset against the club’s revenue from television rights over the next two seasons.

Discussing Cherries’ transfer business over the summer, O’Neil omitted the additions of Joe Rothwell, Ryan Fredericks and Jack Stephens, the trio seemingly not viewed in the head coach’s mind as improvements on the pre-existing squad at the Vitality.

They followed the same pattern of the Championship windows, players on loans and frees to supplement the squad, not necessarily to improve it.

And now Cherries have a bloated squad not blessed with tons of Premier League experience.

The apparent short-sightedness of recent windows has also led to further issues.

Although nothing is certain, Cherries run the risk of losing their record signing, Jefferson Lerma, for nothing come the summer, with his contract entering the final six months.

An integral player since his arrival in 2018, there is no obvious line of succession in place, meaning the option to attempt to recoup any of the reported £25 million fee is off the table.

The slapped-together approach of previous transfers leaves the current squad a hodgepodge of playing styles.

You have livewire, direct attackers mixed in with slower tempo, ball-playing centre-backs, swashbuckling wing-backs on one flank and more conservative defenders on the other.

That then produces a lack of identity on the playing pitch, O’Neil seemingly unable to field a starting XI where everyone is in their natural position.

Philip Billing is not a winger, nor is Dominic Solanke, whilst Jaidon Anthony probably did not predict his second season in the professional game to include frequent appearances at right wing-back.

There always appears to be a player sticking out like a sore thumb in a line-up, a passable option but one that leaves you wondering why there is not a better solution.

Square pegs in round holes can help out in a pinch, but it is not sustainable over the course of the season.

All of that cannot be fixed in one window – especially in as volatile and unpredictable a market January proves time and time again to be.

Do Cherries use this window to take the first steps in addressing the imbalance of the squad, risking temporary pain in order to boost longer-term hopes?

Or do they once again kick the can further down the road, gambling on short-term signings to hopefully secure a second Premier League season, and with it, the security to address the glaring holes?

(Pictures Richard Crease)