Jaidon Anthony is set for a new role at Bournemouth under Andoni Iraola this season.
New Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola will have brought plenty of fresh new ideas to the Vitality Stadium this summer. Fans of the club can look forward to a new, more progressive style of play next season.
Iraola will want to make the Cherries a more possession-based team, capable of creating more chances and scoring more goals than before. The players will have been adapting to his methods throughout pre-season and will be looking to hit the ground running in style at the start of the new Premier League campaign.
The arrival of Iraola will impact some players more than others. One Bournemouth star set for a new experience is Jaidon Anthony. The wide man has been earmarked for a much more attacking role by his new boss.
Speaking with the Daily Echo, Anthony has said, “I probably played a lot of my minutes last year as a wing-back and doing a lot of defensive work…there’s a lot of work to be done on my game especially…my job is to try and attack and create chances and that’s what I’m trying to do for the team.”
Anthony on the attack
Anthony does have the qualities required to excel in a more advanced role. The 23-year-old winger was an effective attacker for the Cherries in the Championship, but was given more defensive responsibility by Gary O’Neill last season as the club focused on staving off relegation.
However, the club have taken a big risk by installing Iraola in O’Neill’s place. The Cherries are all in on the Spaniard’s style of play. New arrivals like Justin Kluivert and Hamed Traore have been brought in this summer to help implement Iraola’s vision.
Anthony will have to step up too, and prove he has what it takes to be a serious menace to Premier League defences. Bournemouth lacked goals last season. Anthony only managed 2. Iraola seems determined to give the former Arsenal academy ace every opportunity to improve his tally this time around.
If Iraola’s tactical masterplan pays off, the results could be spectacular for Bournemouth. If it doesn’t, then the Cherries are in for a very tough year.