Bournemouth: Eddie Howe On Being Robbed In Liverpool

Paul Sorene

18th, August 2015

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Eddie Howe Liverpool

 

Bournemouth were robbed by bad refereering at Anfield. Liverpool’s 1-0 victory was down down to a Christian Benteke goal that should have been ruled out for offside and referee Craig Pawson disallowing what looked like a perfectly good header by The Cherries’ Tommy Elphick.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been mulling over the injustice.

 

The Unfair Fight 

You can’t beat the decisions and the two big ones have cost us points.

 

The Rules

We were told the new rules and it was clearly offside because my goalkeeper [Artur Boruc] was affected by the movement in front of him The goalscorer [Benteke] was not offside but the other player [Coutinho] was. When the goal went in I was expecting a flag. It does leave a bitter taste.

The problem is because we felt [the rule] was a bit grey. We were assured it wouldn’t be and would be adhered to correctly. If that is not offside, it is the clearest example you will see. That was not a tough one. It is a yard and a half and clearly impacting. I would like some feedback on both decisions. It is a difficult profession but decisions of that magnitude, I don’t think either is particularly difficult but you have to get them right.

 

Elphick’s Goal

For me it is a goal. It was a great ball in and if that is a free kick then we are going to be seeing free kicks every time there is a corner. Tommy won the ball fairly. I just felt like I got up earlier than him, but the referee ruled it out for me pushing. The second one is the gut wrencher. Coutinho was active so it is very frustrating. It was clear to me.

 

Moving On

I didn’t say a lot to the officials. They have a hard job but I will speak to them privately. I want feedback on the decisions.

 

Overall

On one hand I am very proud of the players’ performances and how they were brave enough to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool. But obviously the huge negative is the result, so it’s tough to take. I thought we started the game brilliantly. We really did set the tone for an excellent first 25 minutes. But again we feel aggrieved that we haven’t come away with at least a point.

 

The Positives

The atmosphere and the experience will make them better players. Hopefully it’ll also reinforce that we can go anywhere in the country and compete. We can’t live in fear of the reputations and history of clubs, we just have to play the game.

 

Next up for Bournemouth: West Ham United.