Bournemouth's 3-1 defeat at Fulham on Saturday had echoes of some early-season performances. Despite having 25 shots (though only four were on target), defensive errors were mercilessly punished at Craven Cottage.
With goalkeeper Neto questioned for at least one of the goals, the goalkeeping topic features at length on today’s Cherries: Unpicked podcast with BBC Radio Solent's Kris Temple and Jordan Clark.
Temple said: "Criticism towards Neto has been a little bit harsh. He's an easy target, but I don't think his performance at Fulham helped him. He was culpable for the second goal where Rodrigo Muniz got between him and Illia Zabarnyi - he [Neto] needs to come out and throw himself at it."
Clark added: "He's not making howlers or obvious errors, but Bournemouth are conceding goals where I'm left thinking: 'I think he could have got to that'. And you can't be in that situation in the Premier League."
The Brazilian is club captain, a dressing-room leader and an experienced multi-lingual 34-year-old, but faces fierce competition in the shape of Mark Travers, the popular homegrown alternative.
Travers was player of the year in the Championship promotion campaign of 2021-22, but was replaced by Neto four games into the following season. After being recalled from a loan spell at Stoke in October, the Republic of Ireland international has had to bide his time, playing in two FA Cup games.
Unusually, of the 22 players over 21 who Bournemouth named in their Premier League squad for the second half of 2023-24 (leaving three of the permitted 25 slots free), five of those 22 are goalkeepers.
Behind Neto and Travers, Andrei Radu remains on loan at Vitality Stadium for the rest of the season (January rumours of a recall by Inter Milan not bearing out), Darren Randolph awaits a first competitive appearance after a year on the books, and development squad keeper Cameron Plain has been added to the squad.
And that is before we get to Will Dennis, earning rave reviews on loan at Kilmarnock this season, and 17-year-old deadline day capture Callan McKenna, signed as one for the future.
Who should be first-choice keeper for Bournemouth? Make your pick
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