If you had offered me a point away at Bournemouth before kick-off, I would have gladly taken it.
It was, though, frustrating that we did not come away with all three points after going ahead so late on. Giving away such a sloppy free-kick in a dangerous area, especially when the player is facing away from goal in the first place, is criminal and we were punished for it.
Enes Unal’s free-kick was good enough to win any football match, and Bournemouth certainly deserved something from the game after having 29 shots, nine of which were on target.
So for it to secure a point for them was probably justified given the way the second half was going. We were the better side in the first half, but in the second it was all Bournemouth.
We have to respect the away point and move on.
There have been some very, very slight improvements of late. By no means has it been perfect and there is a long way to go before we can safely say that Julen Lopetegui is the right man, but we have looked a lot more sure of ourselves tactically over the past few games.
That said, we have conceded an average of over 18 shots per game in our three December fixtures. In attack, we have averaged over 22 shots but only scored four goals, one of which was a penalty.
That should be a major concern for Lopetegui. We are not clinical enough in attack and way too open in defence. That is just not sustainable.
However, if we can avoid defeat in our next two games against Brighton and Southampton – four points being the absolute minimum we should be looking for – then that will put us in a good position to push on.
Incredibly, we are closer to the top seven than we are to the bottom three.
This season can still be saved, it just remains to be seen whether Lopetegui is the man to save it.
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