Iraola laments 'poor' Bournemouth loss to Aston Villa - 'It's a warning from the league'

Bournemouth were on the wrong side of a 4-0 result on Sunday, falling by the lopsided score in a visit to Aston Villa that was the team's second straight defeat in the Premier League after a promising start to the campaign.

The Cherries hardly put up a fight in the loss, with Villa scoring twice in each half and generally doing as they pleased against their passive visitors.

It was a worrying performance for Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, who lamented his side's lack of focus on defending set pieces and general passivity, especially in the opening 45 minutes of play.

"Everything has gone wrong from the beginning, we had the clash [resulting in Adam Smith's injury] and had to make the change. It's not a reason to lose," Iraola told BBC Match of the Day. 

"I am worried about the first half. We were poor defensively, it's a warning from the league. Two difficult away games but we have not been at our level."

Sunday's defeat comes on the heels of Bournemouth loss last weekend at Manchester City, which was the team's first of back-to-back matches against sides that finished in the top six last season.

Iraloa was not pleased with how his players responded to last week's defeat and wanted more concentration from the Cherries against a dangerous Villa side.

"Three goals from set plays. The first is an amazing goal from Emi Buendia. Three goals from set pieces is too much but it's not just this we have to focus on the things we can do," he said. 

"We were pushing them a lot in the second half, more like us, but this first 45 minutes worry me a bit.

"We hit the post, had the penalty [in the 67th minute which was missed by Antoine Semenyo], clear chances to score [to make it] 2-1 and make the end of the game more nervous for them.

"But we didn't take them, you have to punish them and we didn't."

Lewis Cook, who replaced Alex Jimenez to start the second half, agreed that Bournemouth were below their own standards in the first half and said the team will need to reflect on Sunday's loss before moving forward.

"We're not a team that loses 4-0 and thinks it's acceptable," Cook told Sky Sports. "We have to learn from it. It's come at a time where players are leaving [for international break] so we have to analyse and reflect when we're back together.

"The first half wasn't good enough. We didn't deserve to go in at half time drawing or winning. These things happen in football. We've got players that have won us games this season but sometimes it doesn't work out."

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