Back to basics

Plus: Foster return can be key

Tomorrow’s game is already approaching must-win territory. Time for a rethink?

Back to basics

Defeat at Newcastle on Saturday was comfortably our worst display of the season. Burnley were flat, barely created a chance and seemed to lose belief in the second half.

Confidence has drained rapidly out of the team - understandably, given so many of them lack experience of life at the wrong end of the table - and 2-0 flattered us.

But it could have been a different story. Burnley had made the better start and had the first chance to strike. Luca Koleosho had the better of Dan Burn in the opening exchanges and he created a chance Zeki Amdouni ought to have buried.

Nick Pope made the save, though, and it was about the extent of his work all game.

Both goals were self-inflicted. Aaron Ramsey, playing out of position on the left wing, was caught in possession and punished by Miguel Almiron’s curling opener, the Paraguayan also taking full advantage of Charlie Taylor’s backtracking.

Then Ameen Al-Dakhil headed the ball straight to Anthony Gordon and compounded that error by bringing the winger down in the box. Two mistakes, game over.

Lessons don’t seem to be getting learned by either the players or the manager.

While half a dozen of the starting team were dreadfully below par on Saturday, they have not been helped by some confused decision-making from Vincent Kompany.

Having eventually realised playing a left-back at left-back might be a good idea, Kompany has begun using central midfielders on the wing… because… reasons?

Burnley spent the best part of £100 million over the summer, largely on attacking talent, yet Ramsey was deemed the best option on the left wing rather than Mike Tresor, Anass Zaroury, Wilson Odobert or Jacob Bruun Larsen (I could go on).

The selections frequently make little sense and the tactics don’t either. Burnley’s success last season largely came via the use of a 4-3-3 shape, although sometimes one of the three in the middle pushed up as more of a second striker.

Our possession-based system entirely relies on drawing the opposition up the pitch and hitting accurate long balls to beat the press. But without Taylor Harwood-Bellis at the back, there’s nobody in defence comfortable enough pinging those passes.

Our own press is malfunctioning badly, with teams finding it easy to play round us.

Then there’s the goalkeeper.

James Trafford made one outstanding stop at Newcastle, but he has done very little to justify the massive transfer fee spent to bring him to Turf Moor.

The money we decided he was worth is not his fault, of course, but you cannot tell me the price tag is not weighing heavily on the young goalkeeper’s shoulders right now.

Trafford’s extremely high self-confidence was supposed to be one of his main attributes. Where’s it gone? No longer trusting the accuracy of his mediocre medium and long-range passing, Trafford resorted to aimless hoofs up the field on Saturday.

It’s high time to take the lad out of the firing line. Aro Muric was extremely unlucky to lose the gloves this season and he deserves to get them back.

Pick our best players, in their best positions, in our best shape. Back to basics.

Foster return can be key

Kompany will be boosted by Lyle Foster being available at Luton tomorrow night.

Make no bones about it, this is a massive match. None of the promoted trio have started the season well but Luton’s win at Everton at the weekend gave them a boost.

Amdouni is a talented player but he does not look like a number nine. His pressing lacks the speed and intensity provided by Foster when he leads the attack. Foster’s build up play has also come on leaps and bounds and is a real asset to the side.

It goes without saying Foster will come straight back in, but Kompany needs to work out whether Amdouni can be accommodated in the same XI as the South African.

Right now, I’m not sure he can. Amdouni, Foster and Koleosho in the same side sounds good on paper - or on a video game - but it leaves us exposed elsewhere. We need more solidity and Amdouni doesn’t have an obvious place in a 4-3-3.

At Luton, we will need the physicality of Sander Berge. The Norwegian is having a strange season, making an impact when he comes off the bench but offering little as a starter. He moves about as quickly as your aunt. More like Sandra Berge.

The slowness of our midfield is a major concern. At Newcastle, it had the look of a late Dyche-era unit: for Ashley Westwood, read Josh Cullen, a small playmaker who gets pushed about far too easily by bigger boys. Josh Brownhill was doing typical Josh Brownhill (in the Premier League) things, namely giving away more free kicks than he contributed passes to his own team-mates. The vague, shambling presence of Berge recalled Wout Weghorst’s struggles in claret and blue - well, maybe if you squinted.

Putting Ramsey back into the role he performed well against Manchester United is an obvious move, creating space for an actual winger to play on the left. Radical, I know.

Zaroury’s red card in the opener was a moment of madness from the Moroccan, but his lack of action since returning from suspension is a curiosity. After three assists in the cup win at Salford, Kompany brought him on in the 88th minute at Newcastle.

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We signed so many attackers perhaps it was easy to forget about the ones we had already but Zaroury is a game-changer and it’s time to restore him to the team.

Dara O’Shea’s extra experience and physical strength mean it is possible to make a case for the Ireland international to replace Al-Dakhil, who looks out of his depth.

This is the team I’d be putting out at Luton: Muric; Roberts, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Berge, Cullen, Ramsey; Koleosho, Foster, Zaroury.

That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Let’s hope we have a win to talk about soon…