Moss: Getting beyond a joke

AFC Bournemouth Goalkeeping coach Neil Moss has complained about Umbro's latest FA Cup ball.

The Cherries played out a 3-3 draw with Gillingham on Saturday with both managers Lee Bradbury and Andy Hessenthaler mentioning the affect the ball had on the game.

Darryl Flahaven and Paulo Gazzaniga were both beaten with long range efforts that both dipped dramatically to make it 1-1 and both 'keepers were also caught out by the flight of the ball later on in the game.

Gazzaniga dropped a catch which Zubar pounced on to make it 2-1, while Flahaven was caught out with what looked to be a routine stop, but his fumble made it 3-2 and acted as the catalyst that got Gillingham back into the game.

Moss told afcb.co.uk...

'I think it's getting beyond a joke now. I think they take the skill out of scoring. The days are gone where forwards needed to get their foot round the ball and bend it into the corners, because they can put their foot through the ball and it moves so much that shots that would be bread and butter turn into a nightmare.

'The FA want more goals and they will probably get them, but I'm a believer in that strikers should earn the right to score a goal. They should have to do some skill to bamboozle the 'keeper, and we saw that wasn't the case today. It's a just case of getting your head down, smash it as hard as you can and there's a half a chance it will fly in...'

When the Football League introduced the latest official ball, Shwan Jalal believed that the new Mitre Tensile 'takes out the art of goalkeeping', but Moss believes the Umbro Neo Pro is worse and will ruin the FA Cup.

Moss added...

'...The Mitre ball (official Football League ball) moves around but we train with it everyday, so we can get used to it but this ball is in a different league. The powers of football managed to ruin a World Cup with the ball they introduced and they seem to have done that here with the FA Cup for me.

AFCB Vital Travel Coaches

AFCB Vital are sponsoring the Travel Coaches this season.

The sponsorship guarantees that a supporter coach will travel to every league and cup game this season. For prices, departure times and how to book - click here.

It's easy to join Vital Bournemouth

Simply register with Vital Bournemouth and enjoy getting involved! (you can even win prizes just by having your say on the articles, polls and forums.)

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.