A kick in the balls
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Hello again! Burnley are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 20 years, when we lost at Watford. So why don’t I feel remotely ecstatic this morning?
A kick in the balls
Seeing we’ve drawn Manchester City away - again - was honestly heartbreaking.
Burnley have made hard work of cup runs this season. Rotated teams edged past Shrewsbury Town and Crawley in the League Cup before a loss at Old Trafford.
Since knocking out Premier League side Bournemouth in round three, the FA Cup draws have been kind to us, pairing the Clarets with two League One teams.
Again, we had to battle through the ties - needing a replay then a late winner against Ipswich before taking the full 90 minutes to find a way to score last night.
It just feels like a kick in the balls to fight so hard to be given that draw.
While it’s a great #narrative for the media with Vincent Kompany returning to the club where he became a Premier League legend - and it offers a chance for the Championship’s best team to test themselves against the country’s defending champions ahead of our impending promotion - it’s also a near-certain defeat.
Since George Boyd’s famous winner at the Turf in 2015, we have played City 15 times. We have lost 14 of those games, including a 4-1 and a quartet of 5-0 hammerings.
Burnley went out in the FA Cup away to City in both 2018 and 2019. They beat us at the Turf in the League Cup in 2020. Four cup ties against City in five years is… shit.
While it will be fascinating to see if our style matches up against the likely Premier League champions - and a huge test of Kompany’s managerial skills against a master like Pep Guardiola - it is asking a lot for us to go to City and get a result.
Pretty much any other draw, perhaps barring United away again, I’d have fancied us to have a right good go and have a shot at Wembley. We had a one-in-seven chance of drawing Grimsby Town of League Two but instead we go to City. Again. FFS.
The game itself was essentially a training ground exercise of attack v defence, especially after Cian Hayes was (arguably harshly) sent off on the stroke of HT. While Hayes did not mean to catch Josh Cullen, even Scott Brown - a man who has never seen a refereeing decision he didn’t argue with - had no qualms about it.
I didn’t agree with some of our changes, though ultimately winning the game justified Kompany’s decisions. Taking off Jordan Beyer in particular seemed strange when he is so key to the way we build attacks from the back. Yes, Beyer’s minutes need to be managed after a recent knock, but Charlie Taylor is a big downgrade at centre-back.
Connor Roberts popped up with a cute late winner but I’m still trying to work out why he played on the left side of the defence rather than his usual spot on the right.
Lyle Foster had another difficult day, his confidence fading fast after the bad miss in the first half, and he probably should have been withdrawn earlier than he was.
Anyway, it’s now 12 wins from 15 games since the League Cup loss to United. It’s hard to have too many complaints, other than with whichever plonker did the draw.
Oh, it was Alan Shearer? Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Beyer bargain deal a must
I’m 35 soon so a bit old to have a favourite player these days. But if I did, it would be Beyer. He was near-faultless again last night, one brain-fart where he gave away a foul by handballing apart, and has taken his game to new levels since THB went down.
Reports suggest Burnley have the option to buy Beyer for £3 million in the summer. If that’s true, it should be the fastest money Alan Pace has ever spent in his life.
Beyer is happy and settled at Turf Moor. He has spoken not long ago about feeling love for Burnley and parent club Gladbach. He would surely be a regular next season and it would be hard to turn down the chance to test himself in the Premier League.
While Hjalmar Ekdal has been exceptional since signing in January, Burnley’s other centre-back options (should THB not return) are the still-raw Al-Dakhil, the untrusted Luke McNally and Taylor, who would be sorely out of his depth at the higher level.
Signing Beyer permanently seems like an absolute no-brainer. Let’s get it done.
Recommended reading
Adam’s newsletter Out and Out Football continues to be essential reading. The latest edition has our fellow NNN co-founder Kevin Robinson writing on his experiences.
That’s it for this week! As ever, feedback and views are welcome. Get in touch by replying to this email, leaving a comment below, or tweeting me @JamieSmithSport.