FM20 Team Guide & Tactic - AFC Bournemouth

Here is a brief team guide of the Bournemouth squad in FM20, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.

Here is a brief club analysis of the Bournemouth squad in FM20, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.

About the club

Bournemouth are a lower mid-table Premier League team. The Cherries as they are belovedly called were promoted to the top flight of English football in 2009. However, their ascension to the top was not very smooth.

Bournemouth fell into administration in 2008 and were relegated to the 3rd tier of English football. However, after a successful take over by a new owner and the appointment of Eddie Howe, who was at that time the league’s youngest manager the club grew in stature and the performances reflected this.

The board's expectations

With Bournemouth doing pretty decently in the Premier League, the minimum expectations of the board once you take over should be,

1. A mid-table finish in the Premier League
2. Making the 5th round of the FA Cup
3. Making the 4th round of the EFL Carabao Cup.

There will not be any specific football philosophies required from the manager but the transfer war chest will be underwhelming and mediocre. However, board will slightly prefer if your team played attacking possession football.

You will have £20m in transfer budget money, with additional £51k p/w wage budget for the new signings.

The cherries have adequate training facilities and a decent youth setup. You would definitely need to work on improving these once you establish yourself at the club.

Squad, Formation and Tactical Style

The Bournemouth squad are a blend of young players and seasoned campaigners with most of their players having the potential to be global stars.

There are quite a few tactical setups you could deploy with Bournemouth, however Fluid Counter Attacks/Wing play suits them the best. This would also make use of the quick wingers and attackers in the cherries’ lineup.

A 4-4-2 works best for Bournemouth given their current squad. You could also go with a 4-2-2-2 with more adventurous wingers if you fancy a win, but this strictly dependant on your opposition.

A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-4-2 formation is as follows,

• Aaron Ramsdale as a regular keeper.
• Steve Cook & Nathan Ake as centre backs with the latter being played as a Ball Playing Defender.
• Adam Smith & Diego Rico as the fullbacks. You can have them play early crosses to get the counters started.
• Jefferson Lerma & Philip Billing as the 2 central midfielders. You can have Lerma be more adventurous and play Billing as more of a holder.
• Ryan Fraser & David Brooks as the 2 attacking wide midfielders. Their passing and adventure is key to securing results.
• Callum Wilson deployed as complete forward, his partner Joshua King being played as a support striker or a shadow striker behind Wilson.

Alternatively, you can change to a 3-5-2 if you want to shore up your defence by including Chris Mepham as a CB. You can sacrifice Brooks or Fraser for the cause.

Key Players

1. Callum Wilson & Josh King



Both are accomplished international strikers and will do a professional job for you upfront.

2. Nathan Ake



High quality CB, with even top clubs vying for the defender you will do well in keeping him at the club.

3. Lerma & Brooks



The club recently have made some smart young purchases who could be some of the best players in the league in the future.

Weaknesses

1. There is very little depth in the squad beyond the first team. The quality of the bench and reserves may also not be up to the PL standards.
2. It might be a hard job to keep a hold of potential stars as the cherries are not a club of high stature.
3. With a shoestring budget provided for transfers it is not very easy to find players to fill gaps in the squad.

Youngsters to keep an eye on

There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are;

• David Brooks (AMR, MR, AMC)
• Lewis Cook (CDM, CM)
• Aaron Ramsdale (GK)

FM20 AFC Bournemouth summery

To Summarise, Bournemouth are a decent club who could definitely give a fight for a top half finish. However with a lot of gaps in the squad and with a limited budget it could definitely pose an interesting challenge. Are you up for it?