Assessing Collins' debut
Plus: Formerly fast footballers
The reaction to Saturday’s disappointing draw was entirely predictable.
Blaming referee Kevin Friend (abysmal, to be fair)
Criticising Norwich’s time-wasting (glass houses much?)
At least Nathan Collins was good (clutching at straws)
…but was he?
Thrust into the back four in place of absent captain Ben Mee, Collins contributed to a first Premier League clean sheet of the season. That’s important. With Nick Pope making an indifferent start to the season we haven’t looked like getting one lately.
Collins, however, could hardly have hoped for an easier Premier League debut.
Norwich have scored two goals in seven league games this season and the man who has got them both, Teemu Pukki, had no service whatsoever at the weekend.
Collins was OK, but he didn’t excel. He didn’t have to. There was one moment where he was outpaced despite having a headstart and he did look a bit ponderous at times.
On the ball, he didn’t look any better than Mee. Most of the 35 passes Collins played were short and safe to one of his fellow defenders. Collins and James Tarkowski actually played the same number of passes, with Collins more accurate (80 per cent completion) as Tarkowski took more responsibility for playing out from the back.
I felt it was a mistake to have Tarkowski on the left with Collins on the right. While it did shore up a problem area - so many goals we concede come from our left - it made it a lot harder for Tarkowski to pass. One loose ball almost played in Pukki. With Tarkowski always keen to get on his stronger right foot it was a surprise Norwich didn’t make more of an effort to put pressure on him when in possession.
Collins playing on the right side meant both centre-back spots were weaker than usual. With Collins clearly not asked to pass with any risks, it surely would have made more sense to play him in Mee’s spot and let Tarkowski do his usual job on the ball.
It might not have made any difference at all. But with Burnley lacking the ability to break the lines with their passing, having the only defender in the back four who passes with any confidence in an unnatural position felt more than a bit odd to me.
How little Tarkowski and Collins had to do defensively is indicated by the fact they made a single tackle between them in the game. Collins conceded as many fouls as he made clearances (two - Tarkowski cleared the ball eight times and gave away just one foul). The data is hardly a sign of a brilliant performance from the 20-year-old.
By the way, Grant Hanley, who was outstanding, made 15 clearances and five interceptions, showing the vast difference in the workloads for the two defences.
Collins had very little to do and, while he didn’t do much wrong, he faces far tougher tests if he is to succeed Tarkowski as Mee’s regular partner as expected next season.
What happens to formerly fast footballers?
I felt sorry for Aaron Lennon on Saturday. There can’t be many bigger downgrades in the entire league than Lennon replacing the injured Maxwel Cornet. He was never going to have the same influence that Cornet managed last week at Leicester.
Lennon looked like a player who hadn’t started a game at this level for years. Which is true. You have to go back three years to find a Premier League game Lennon started that Burnley won. In his last season here, we took one point from his four starts.
That’s not to say those results were all his fault - defeats to Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool were expected - but it’s an indication of his regular lack of impact. Expectations were minimal when Lennon returned as an extra body for the squad.
Lennon was a passenger and it’s totally mystifying why he started the game. He managed 12 passes, one shot and one dribble. There was no movement, no incision, nothing to suggest this is a player who will have an effect on Premier League games. His replacement, Johann Gudmundsson, delivered easily the best of Burnley’s 491 crosses on the day with a tentative Dwight McNeil failing to convert at the back post.
It got me wondering: what happens to players who used to be fast, once they’re not?
Theo Walcott is an obvious comparison. Like Lennon, Walcott was regularly affecting Premier League games as a teenager, frightening defenders with his searing pace.
Not any more. Now at also winless Southampton, the 32-year-old Walcott hasn’t contributed a goal or an assist this season. He is in danger of becoming an irrelevance.
Lennon already is. In the NFL, there’s a term for interchangeable players who can be swapped out for someone else as they have no defining characteristics or strengths.
JAG = just another guy. Unfortunately, Lennon is now a JAG. If he starts many more games this season, Burnley will be in even deeper trouble than we already are.
Fantasy football
Dec's Hotel? Thiago remain the leaders of the No Nay Never league, with big points from Cesar Azpilicueta and Raul Jimenez keeping him at the top of the table.
Birthdays and anniversaries
Notable upcoming birthdays include Dave Thomas (71 on Tuesday) and, er, Frederic Nimani, who will be 33 later in the week.
#OnThisDay in 2014 was probably Ross Wallace’s finest hour as a Claret, the Scot netting a stunning late free-kick to earn Burnley a 2-2 draw away to Leicester City:
Tweet of the week
Recommended reading etc
This article is a bit superficial really but some nuggets of interest from the new Athletic piece (£ again, sorry) spending time with chairman Alan Pace on Saturday.
Pace is obviously working hard to make Cornet feel welcome, after playing a key role in getting the deal over the line. But it’s evident he is still learning on the job. Some of the things he says about fans not being inside the ground over half an hour before the KO show a bit of naivety. That’s the same at basically all football stadiums, isn’t it?
This injury update seems to suggest Mee and Cornet could both be available for the next game away to City, while Connor Roberts might be fit. That’s a good positive note with Matt Lowton having been particularly bad against Norwich on Saturday.
Letters
Re: last week’s newsletter on whether there will be three worse teams:
Palace have recruited pretty well but it’s still early days. I reckon they’ll be in the bottom six or so. As for signing another forward, it just isn’t going to happen unless one of the four senior strikers we have leaves. A new striker always seems to be the shiny toy fans want but it’s the supply line that is the main issue - and it has been for some time. Chris Wood isn’t playing well but he’s not getting many chances either.
Feel free to get in touch with any comments or feedback. You can reply to this email or tweet @JamieSmithSport. Ideas for contributions are also always welcome.
Thought of the day
Keeping the ball on the pitch is the minimum expectation for goalkeepers kicking.