ANDONI Iraola and his coaching staff ‘demand a lot’ from Antoine Semenyo and have seen quite the return so far this season.
The Ghanaian was in sparkling form against Manchester City as he notched his fourth goal of the Premier League season, opening the scoring after nine minutes.
Semenyo brilliantly controlled a Milos Kerkez cut back and pivoted, striking low and hard past Ederson into the City net.
But the winger was a threat throughout for the Cherries, causing the City backline a lot of problems across the 90 minutes.
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Iraola, asked about Semenyo’s performance after the game, said: “He has been playing very well all the season.
“I think we demand him a lot because I think he can give a lot, and today probably he scores and everyone gives him more recognition.”
Asked about Semenyo lining up on the left hand side, and the thought process behind that, Iraola explained: “I think Antoine is going to be always dangerous for every centre back, every full back that he attacks.
“But it was more defensive minded because we decided the job defensively that the right winger had to do was more difficult.
“Normally Tav [Marcus Tavernier] is very good tactically interpreting these kinds of difficult situations, and that was the main reason.”
The Basque boss said this decision was not to line Semenyo up against City captain Kyle Walker, who has been carrying an injury but started the game at the Vitality Stadium.
Iraola added: “It was more focusing on the defensive side, on our press, on how to try to match up better for us because we knew that both of the wingers were going to be dangerous because they try to play so high that we will always find the spaces behind.”
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