JACK’S ALL RIGHT BUT ROSS IS STRUGGLING
JACK WILSHERE was 14 minutes away from playing his first full 90 in two years when the fourth official held up his electronic board and the midfielder’s number 32 flashed up. Dan Gosling’s four was alongside it and Wilshere jogged off having been instrumental in Bournemouth ending Everton’s unbeaten run in the Premier League. He did not score the matchwinning goal — that went to Junior Stanislas with a 20-yard strike — but he came close, seeing a firsttime shot deflected on to the crossbar when Seamus Coleman slid in. And in his favoured No 10 role Wilshere controlled much of the game and still put himself about as much as any defensive midfielder. He even looked like he had that extra few minutes in him as he eased off to a standing ovation to prolong his 732-day wait for a full match. Manager Eddie Howe thought otherwise, but insisted afterwards that it will not be long until he is ready. ‘The way he played today he won’t be far away,’ Howe said. ‘Tactically games change and set plays, all the other things when you’re in my position you have to think about, come in at that late stage of the game. ‘It’s not a big issue for Jack and it’s not a big issue for me. As long as he plays like he did today he’s going to have a massive impact on our season.’ On display at Dean Court were two of England’s most promising midfielders whose careers have stalled at the same time. Wilshere has tried a change of scenery and he is rediscovering his form of old. Yet Ross Barkley, also omitted from Sam Allardyce’s first England squad, has stayed at Everton and put in yet another awkward performance against Bournemouth. Barkley hit a delightful free-kick which found Romelu Lukaku’s head to almost open the scoring and was guilty of heading wide a chance gifted by Coleman’s cross. But aside from that his touch was wanting, his impact was limited and the ball all too often became caught up between his feet. Such is the player’s poor form this season that manager Ronald Koeman bristled at being questioned by Sportsmail about him after the match. ‘I don’t answer about that question,’ he said. ‘Why? Because why do I need to explain or tell always about one or two players? ‘You don’t ask me about Coleman. What I don’t like is the need to explain what was the performance of Barkley. Every week I get these types of questions.’ Every week Howe is asked about Wilshere, and every week he only gets better.
SUPER STAT: This was only the second time Bournemouth have won back-to-back Premier League home games (they beat West Brom on September 10).
BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-1-1): Boruc 6.5; A Smith 6.5, Cook 7, Francis 7, Daniels 6.5; Stanislas 7.5, Arter 8, Surman 7, Ibe 6 (Gradel 70min, 6); Wilshere 7.5 (Gosling 76); Wilson 6 (Afobe 90).
Subs not used: Ake, B Smith, Federici, Mousset. Booked: Daniels, Surman. Scorer: Stanislas 23. EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Stekelenburg 6; Coleman 6.5, Jagielka 6, Williams 6, Oviedo 5.5; Gana 6 (Valencia 81), Barry 6 (Cleverley 55, 6); Bolasie 5, Barkley 5, Mirallas 6 (Deulofeu 60, 6); Lukaku 6. Subs not used: Robles, Lennon, Funes Mori, Holgate. Booked: Gana, Oviedo.
Man of the match: Harry Arter. Referee: Bobby Madley 7.