In a move that shocked absolutely no one who has been paying attention, Bournemouth have decided that qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history was not enough. So they've brought in a new head coach, Marco Rose, to see if they can actually win something. Rose, who has coached the likes of Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, inherits a squad that lost key players worth over £250m last season and still didn't lose a game after January. The outgoing Andoni Iraola, now at some other club, spent his last day at the training base chatting with Rose about players, pubs, and tactics, until sporting director Tiago Pinto had to knock on the door and remind them there was work to do. Rose, ever the pragmatist, acknowledged the high bar set by Iraola: 'Andoni didn't leave a lot of space to improve. Pressure's on.'
Bournemouth's Europa League campaign will be their first taste of European football since they were in the second tier four years ago. To prepare, they've been picking the brains of Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, who know a thing or two about Thursday-Sunday grind. Rose is close friends with Oliver Glasner, now at Forest, who won the Conference League with Palace last season. 'We are not going to Europe just to enjoy, we want to be competitive,' Rose said, presumably with a straight face.
They've kept their key players this summer, including Alex Scott, Rayan, and Eli Junior Kroupi, the 20-year-old forward who scored double figures in his debut Premier League season. Kroupi, who attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain, will be sidelined for at least three months after a freak foot injury in pre-season. Because of course he will.
To replace Marcos Senesi, they've signed António Silva from Benfica for £25.7m, a snip given the going rate for elite defenders is now £50m (see Tottenham's £52m for Jan Paul van Hecke and Chelsea's £52m for Maxence Lacroix). Álvaro Rodríguez came from Elche, and Juanlu Sánchez from Sevilla to cover for the injured Álex Jiménez, who is suspended in England while under FA investigation and has joined Fiorentina on loan.
The smallest stadium in the Premier League (11,357 seats) is getting a facelift to meet Uefa regulations, with every seat replaced and corners filled to add 800 more. They're also working on meeting Uefa's squad-cost ratio, which caps spending at 70% of revenue; they finished last season at 82%. The academy was awarded category one status last month, a nice little upgrade from category three.
Owner Bill Foley, the American billionaire who calls himself a dictator, has a knack for predictions: he said they'd play in Europe within five years (they did it in three), and his Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in their sixth season after he promised it. He's added Exeter Chiefs to his sporting empire, which already includes Lorient, Auckland FC, and Moreirense. Foley, who turns 82 in December, puts his money where his mouth is, and supporters are grateful.
Rose, who learned from Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, and Ralf Rangnick, has managed some big names and is known for high-energy tactics. Bournemouth routed Genoa 10-1 in pre-season, so could his style be even more aggressive than Iraola's? 'I would say to be even more aggressive than Andoni is quite difficult,' he admitted. His grandfather, Walter Rose, played for Germany in 1937, so football runs in the family.
Bournemouth scored nine goals from counterattacks last season, the joint most in the Premier League, and also managed 14 set-piece goals, a rare double threat. They'll need that versatility in Europe.
Ben Gannon-Doak, a £25m arrival from Liverpool, had a bittersweet November when Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years; he was forced off after 21 minutes but still featured in all three matches. After limited league action last season, there's hope he'll make his mark this year.
Rayan became the first Brazilian teenager to start a World Cup match since 1970, setting up Vinícius Júnior for the opener against Scotland. Tyler Adams impressed for the USA, and new set-piece coach Nicolas Gagnon and goalkeeping coach Frederic de Boever worked with Canada and Belgium, respectively. Alex Scott's inclusion in Tuchel's pre-World Cup camp spoke volumes.
So, Bournemouth are heading into the unknown, with a new boss, a rebuilt squad, and a stadium that's literally under construction. What could possibly go wrong?