admin. . . Zemura gets Sky Sports’ highest Anfield rating
AFTER the record-breaking 0-9 massacre, Battered Bournemouth Boss, Scott Parker, had just a few words for the fans – ‘I’M IMMENSELY SORRY.’
The Cherries manager saw his side slip to the joint-highest defeat in the club’s history, shipping five goals in the opening half, before another four at the Kop end, following the interval.
Despite the battering, Sky Sports still gave rookie Zimbabwe international defender, Jordan Zemura, with the best rating for the Cherries.
It was Zemura’s first appearance, against Liverpool, in a Premiership showdown, against Liverpool.
The Zimbabwean was handed a rating of FOUR, by Sky Sports, the best for the visiting players, in the show dominated by the hosts.
Bournemouth confirmed they had sold out the away end, ahead of kick-off, with a distraught Parker admitting it was his toughest day in football.
Asked whether he had a message for the club’s fans, who made the 524-round trip to Anfield, the boss told the Daily Echo: “Yeah I have, it was painful.
“And, to be fair to them, to an absolute… every single one of them stuck behind the team and they probably understood where we currently are.
“While they didn’t come in and expect us to get a defeat like we did, they were right behind us.
“And, I’m immensely sorry for that result, but I’d like to think that the general fan will understand where exactly it was.
“I think they see a team that were trying everything they possibly could and they were in their powers to try to do whatever today, and maybe, some other times this season.
“The levels were just far too great for us.”
Asked how he would pick up his players after the record-equalling biggest Premier League defeat, Parker said:
“It is very difficult, of course, and that’s going to be the main focus after today.
“Look, tonight will be a long night, sleepless night, and I’m sure everyone else, the players as well, will reflect and it will be a difficult one to really process.
“I suppose there’s times like this when you become a little bit older and you’re trying to tell a story to the younger ones or your grandchildren.
“You always bring up the stories that we’ve always heard, about the adversity, and ‘we had an experience which wasn’t good’ and what probably defines someone, or certainly you want to tell the next bit of story, which is, ‘this is what we did and we regrouped and we managed to do this, this and this’.”
Asked whether the club would be able to bring in any more quality before the transfer window closes, he said:
“Probably, that is what we need to do now. Because, like I said, not many teams have been beaten nine.
“We have.
“We need to try and tell the story in a positive one. That we showed character and showed real resolve and that’s the main drive now.
“We’ve been trying to do that (bring in new players).
“There are millions of reasons why and there’s loads of circumstances why. This is not just as straightforward as not being able to sign players because players don’t want to come or whatever.
“There’s a lot of issues here for the reasons why we’ve not been able to do that and it just depends whether those issues resolve, or we make a decision.
“That’s it, really.”
Cherries are set to host Wolverhampton Wanderers at Vitality Stadium tomorrow (8.30pm). – Sports Reporter/Bournemouth Echo
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter