Bournemouth opinion: Two ways Howe could get the best out of Philip Billing
Bournemouth have confirmed the signing of Philip Billing from Huddersfield Town for a fee of £15million and Bournemouth can look forward to another successful transfer window.
Since their promotion in the 2015/16 season, they have been slowly building a side capable of thriving in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe is one of the few managers from the lower leagues who has survived the Premier League on his own terms, which is why he’s a fantastic manager for players who have attacking instincts.
The signing of Billing would give Bournemouth another exciting player in the midfield. Bournemouth have not got some very exciting midfielders in Lewis Cook, Jefferson Lerma and Billing.
Bournemouth, at one point, did look like they were going to be one of the candidates for the Europa League but ultimately faltered and fell to 14th place. They were still very good in an attacking sense after Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson had a very explosive season.
Billing is a deep-lying midfielder, who has a great range of passing, is a very good physical presence and has an unusually great free-throw, which hasn’t been in fashion since the days of Rory Delap in Tony Pulis’ infamous Stoke City side.
Let’s have a look at two ways in which Howe could make the best use of Billing.
A deep-lying midfielder in a 4-4-2
Eddie Howe played a counter-attacking system last season, which helped his leaky defence a little and the 4-4-2 formation worked wonders for him at the start of the season.
Billing would fit in perfectly as the holding midfielder and use his passing range to trigger counter-attacks. He would also be a great defensive player, which would help their backline. This system would perfectly suit all his attributes.
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A box-to-box midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3
Eddie Howe hasn’t used a 4-3-3 very often, as he lacks the players to for the same but with Lewis Cook and Jefferson Lerma in the team, Howe could get more control in his midfield as he’s always been a manager who likes to keep possession of the ball.
This would also work in away games as Bournemouth haven’t always had the best away record in the league. Billing is also capable of shooting from range and could be a real threat in a slightly more advanced position.