Eddie Howe feels today’s 2-2 draw with West Ham and our flat first half performance was “a hangover” from our huge effort to beat PSG in midweek.
He was delighted with our superb response on the second half, where the “outstanding” Alexander Isak scored twice and feels the “defining moment” was the Swede’s big chance to make it 3-1 after rounding the goalkeeper.
Howe hailed our character to come back, but rued the mistakes made for both goals. He felt both were avoidable and mentioned how “mistakes in midfield” left our back four exposed, at times.
The 45-year-old reveals that Isak was forced off with a knock late on, but is hopeful he’ll be OK, adding that Joelinton “wasn’t close” to returning after failing to train all week.
Here’s what he had to say when speaking to the press after Mohammed Kudus’ 89th-minute leveller:
“A frustrating game for us. Probably a hangover from midweek. A really good response in the second half but we’re frustrated not to get over the line. I think we did really well in the second half, showed great character to come back.
“We’re disappointed with both goals, I think we could have avoided it. We made mistakes in midfield which allowed them to have the space that they did.
“Probably the defining moment (was Isak’s chance to make it 3-1). Alex is an outstanding player, the first in particular is an outstanding finish. He is unlucky not to score the third but they are the small margins.
“I’m just disappointed we didn’t get over the line. But the response by the players in the second half was magnificent.“
Howe then confirmed Isak was taken off in the closing stages with a knock, saying: “fingers crossed he’s okay.”
On Joelinton, the boss said the Brazilian “wasn’t close to returning today” as he “hasn’t trained with us yet” after feeling his hamstring in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Burnley.
