Eddie Howe says Manchester City defeat will benefit Bournemouth
Thursday 22 September 2016 15:34, UK
Bournemouth's 4-0 defeat to Manchester City will help the Cherries improve, according to manager Eddie Howe.
The loss saw Howe's side slip to 17th in the Premier League, having won just one of their five games, while Bournemouth were also knocked out of the EFL Cup after a 3-2 defeat by Sky Bet Championship side Preston.
But ahead of the visit of Everton on Saturday, Howe insisted Bournemouth will be better off having endured some tough lessons at the Etihad.
"We learnt a lot from the City game," Howe said. "I think it was a tough experience but as always when you play the very best teams you learn a lot from it.
"I remember going back to the Real Madrid game we played in the pre-season friendly (in 2013) and we lost 6-0 but from that game we took so much tactically from them.
"You learn against the top teams and I think you reflect and look back and learn a lot from that game.
"It is a good learning curve in the long term, although it doesn't help in the short term because you get no points.
"There were elements of the game that were okay, that were quite good but ultimately (City) were superior to us."
Last time Bournemouth and Everton met at the Vitality Stadium, Howe's side were 2-0 down with 10 minutes to play, recovered to 2-2 but went behind again to a 95th-minute Ross Barkley goal. However, Junior Stanislas made it 3-3 in the eighth minute of injury time to earn the Cherries a point.
Howe wants his players to recapture the same fighting attitude as they bid to stay in the Premier League for another season.
"The home game was a turning point in our season," said Howe. "We looked like we were down and out and beaten with about 30 seconds of the game to go and we scored that last gasp goal to make it 3-3 and I think that revitalised our season.
"We need to find that determination again, if we are going to stay up."
