Can Bournemouth kick off the Marco Rose era with a bang?

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a plethora of English teams make their presence felt across Europe’s three major competitions. Manchester City won their first-ever Champions League title in 2023, the same season that West Ham lifted the Europa Conference League and ended a 43-year trophy drought. Two years later, Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United in the Europa League Final, whilst Chelsea won the Conference League.

It was more of the same last season, with Crystal Palace winning the Conference League, Aston Villa winning the Europa League, and Arsenal narrowly losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Final. There’s reason to believe that prolonged English dominance is just around the corner, with Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa competing in the Champions League and Brighton & Hove Albion in the Conference League qualifiers.

There will be three unfamiliar faces in the Europa League, as Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth vie for supremacy in Europe’s secondary competition. Whilst Sunderland are returning to international football after 52 years, Bournemouth will be playing European football for the first time in their 127-year history.

Bournemouth’s Steve Fletcher on Europe

“When we first got into Europe, I was thinking it’d be great just to win a few games, but when I’ve looked at the teams around and I’ve spoken to people, they’re like, ‘You’re one of the better teams on paper,’ stated Bournemouth’s all-time appearance maker Steve Fletcher in an exclusive Hooligan Soccer interview.

“I know on paper doesn’t mean anything; I wouldn’t say we’re one of the favorites, but with our squad and what we’ve done, and how we’ve succeeded as of late, people are looking at us as if we’re going to challenge. Now, whether we do or don’t, it’s still going to be a historic season for AFC Bournemouth.”

“We’ve got to look at what teams like Tottenham and Villa have done, even Nottingham Forest reaching the Europa League semifinal, and say, ‘If they’re capable, we are capable. Look at Crystal Palace last season, they’re a great example to follow.”

Schedule, Squad, Form, Luck

Whilst Crystal Palace will travel to Everton on opening day, Aston Villa will head to Brighton and Newcastle will host Liverpool. Each of the three promoted sides in Coventry City, Hull City, and Ipswich Town will be facing a team playing in Europe (Arsenal, Manchester United, Sunderland). As for Bournemouth, they’ll be traveling to Manchester City on Sunday.

“You need a lot of things to go your way: you need to stay injury-free, you need your best players available, and you need a decent squad,” noted Fletcher. “You’re going to be playing in the Premier League, three days later, you’re playing in the Europa League, and three days later, you’re back in the Premier League.”

“You need a good squad, you need luck to be on your side, you need to be on a good run of form….a lot of things have got to fall into place. But are we capable? 100% we’re capable. You’ve just got to remember it’s our first season ever going into Europe: there are a couple of players who’ve played a few games here and there, but in Europe, in general, not many have.”

“None of our staff, apart from the manager Marco Rose have ever been in and around Europe, so it’s going to be new for everybody, once again. You need a favorable draw, you need to get the results, and if you can get off to a good start, anything can happen.”

Bournemouth’s Topsy-Turvy Journey

Fletcher played at Bournemouth from 1992 to 2007 before departing, but he would return 18 months later and help them avoid relegation to the fifth tier with the winning goal vs. Grimsby Town on the penultimate day of the 2008/09 season. After saving them from extinction, Fletcher then helped them achieve two promotions before retiring in 2013 with 122 goals in 726 appearances.

He has since worked in a number of capacities at Bournemouth from scout to ambassador to assistant coach to player liaison officer, helping them qualify for the Premier League for the first time ever in 2015. And after going back down to the Championship in 2020, Bournemouth needed just two years to return.

After beating the odds and achieving safety with a 15th place finish in the 2022/23 season, Bournemouth’s new American owner Bill Foley decided to cut ties with manager Gary O’Neil and take a big swing with Spaniard Andoni Iraola. Their first-ever coach from outside of Great Britain or Ireland, Iraola would spearhead them to a 12th-place finish in 2023/24 before going even better in the following years.

Big Changes; Bigger Climbs

Despite losing top scorer Dominic Solanke to Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth would equal their best-ever finish of 9th in 2024/25. The following season would see even more crucial starters leave: Antoine Semenyo, Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Dango Ouattara. It didn’t matter. Bournemouth managed to take a step forward and shatter their own ceiling.

Bournemouth finished 6th in the Premier League table, 18 points clear of relegation and just three points away from Champions League football. They claimed several big-time scalps along the way, beating Arsenal and Liverpool and drawing to Manchester City, Manchester United (twice), Aston Villa, and Chelsea.

Iraola won’t be leading Bournemouth out on Europa League nights; instead, he’ll be overseeing Liverpool’s Champions League adventure. In his place Bournemouth appointed Marco Rose, a 14-year veteran of the German and Austrian Bundesliga. In that time, Rose led Red Bull Salzburg to the Europa League semifinals, qualified Gladbach for the Champions League after a 5 year hiatus, and led RB Leipzig to back-to-back Round of 16 exits in the Champions League.

Shrewd Signings

It won’t be easy to replicate last season’s historic finish, but Bournemouth have what it takes to continue punching above their weight and ascending the zenith of English football. In contrast to last season, Bournemouth have only lost one starter in Marcos Senesi, with António Silva arriving to fill his void in central defense. Moreover, they’ve replaced squad players Álex Jiménez and Enes Ünal with Juanlu Sánchez and Álvaro Rodríguez.

“We’ve signed some good players this season, players who’ve been very highly thought of, and we did it without a lot of noise,” added Fletcher. “Sometimes people get wind of signings week in advance, but they didn’t with Bournemouth, who have kept well under the radar. I think we’ve made some very astute signings.”

“Of course, we lost Marcos Senesi after he saw out his contract and went to Tottenham, but I think we’ve done well in the market, and I’m not sure if we’ve totally finished yet. The transfer window is still open for two more weeks, so there might be one that maybe comes in to hopefully add to the squad.”

“I think that’s helped Marco Rose. He’s looked at the squad, he’s very happy with these players who’ve come in and have enjoyed a seamless transition. When I watched an hour of training today earlier this morning with our sporting director Tiago Pinto, our training seemed great. Footballers and sportsmen, they just get on with it.”

The Challenge Ahead

For the first time ever, Bournemouth will have to balance domestic football with their European exploits, but there’s every reason to believe that they can rise to the occasion. Bournemouth established themselves as one of the most dangerous, high-tempo, overachievers in the Premier League under Iraola thanks to their intense pressing and vertical attacking. However, there’s undoubtedly a few areas that Rose will need to correct if he is to continue their upward momentum.

Bournemouth’s most glaring weakness is defending restarts, having allowed 16.31 xG from set-pieces and conceded a third of their league goals from dead-ball situations. If they are to improve on their 54 goals conceded — the worst in the top 11 — they need to start improving their second-ball dominance in the box and refining zonal marking assignments.

The Cherries’ controlled chaos approach yielded 298 high turnovers and generated a number of quality transition opportunities, but it also left them vulnerable in open-ended matches, dropping 22 points from winning positions in 2025/26. If they can start consolidating possession and slowing down the tempo after taking the lead, then a few of those 18 draws might start turning into wins.

“I think we’ve exceeded every expectation there is going every season,” added Fletcher. “Of course, you look back at games when the season finishes and you think, ‘Oh, we could have picked up 3 points there, we should have won, but every team will be thinking the same. I think we’ve done everything and beyond what this club can achieve. It’s supposed to have been a brilliant journey for everyone, all the supporters, everyone involved.”

The Squad

With Đorđe Petrović thriving in between the sticks and Adrien Truffert and Adam Smith holding it down from the fullback areas, Bournemouth already have a strong defensive spine, but it will come down to the fine-tuning of Rose to get the most out of them. Perhaps that means shifting from a hybrid man-orientated press in order to lessen fatigue. Perhaps that means dropping into a compact mid-block and minimizing the spaces in between the midfielders and defenders.

There’s a strong mixture of experienced players like Lewis Cook (29), David Brooks (29), Smith (35), and Fraser Forster (38), as well as younger players who are seeking to make their reputation in England. With Silva set to challenge Bafodé Diakité and James Hill for a starting spot in central defense, and Cook, Alex Scott, and Tyler Adams competing for the double pivot, this team has more than enough depth to compete on all fronts.

A Varied Attack

At the very least, Bournemouth should be able to improve their form in the domestic cups, having lost to Brentford and Newcastle in their opening matches in the EFL Cup and FA Cup last season. They may not have a proven 20+ goalscorer like Erling Haaland or Alexander Isak, but they do have enough attacking options to keep the goals flowing.

With Brazilian duo Evanilson and Rayan forming an impressive synergy up front, Eli Junior Kroupi taking enormous strides in his production, and with other options like Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert, Amine Adli, Ben Gannon-Doak and Rodriguez ready to produce, this Bournemouth team is more than capable of surpassing 2025/26 and making 2026/27 their greatest-ever season.

Fletcher agrees.

“Every team wants a 30-goal striker, but as long as everybody’s chipping in and we’re scoring goals and winning games and competing, that for me is enough. I just think that we have to keep doing what we’re doing and what we’re good at…we’ve overachieved and excelled every single season that we’ve been in the Premier League, and we just have to keep that wheel turning.”