Burnley are into the top six after a stunning win at Wigan - so how did it happen?
CLICK!
All season we’ve been saying a team would take a tonking as soon as we clicked.
Well. CLICK. How’s about that then? Wigan were pretty poor on Saturday, but take nothing away from Burnley’s performance - the Latics were previously unbeaten too.
There were understandably nerves when the Clarets again took a two-goal lead and took time to make the game safe, with some shaky moments at 3-1 as well, but the second half was a different affair to the embarrassing collapse against Blackpool.
In each of the three home draws, Burnley have created plenty of chances but have been wasteful in front of goal. At whatever Wigan are calling their stadium these days, we had just eight shots and scored five of them. It was completely clinical.
Towards the end of the game, as Wigan fell apart, we looked like we could score almost at will. The result should be a huge confidence boost for our young squad.
Suddenly, the team looks full of goals. Jay Rodriguez has scored in back-to-back league games. Nathan Tella has three in two. So does Josh Brownhill. In fact, only one player in the league has scored more goals than Brownhill so far. It’s fair to say he is enjoying his attacking role, with those third-man runs into the box causing chaos.
Samuel Bastien has scored in successive games after netting the winner at Shrewsbury. And this is with Scott Twine still to come back into the squad.
That’s not to say it was all perfect. We conceded another ridiculously crap goal. Yes, Aro Muric rushed rashly, but he had to come out as Charlie Taylor was AWOL.
At both 2-0 and 3-1, we had a lot of sloppy moments where we opened the door. Fortunately, Wigan lacked a gamechanger like Josh Bowler, who was excellent in Blackpool’s comeback last weekend at the Turf, so we got away with them.
It would be nit-picking to whinge about faults in a 5-1 win on the road, so I won’t. All I’ll say is that performance sets a high standard we must now aim to meet regularly.
Striker or defender?
All summer Burnley fans have been calling for a new striker to be signed, but perhaps after scoring eight goals in two league games, priorities should be shifted elsewhere?
Burnley have conceded in every league game since the opening weekend win at Huddersfield. More to the point, we simply do not look like keeping clean sheets.
That can partly be put down to the fact it is a new defensive unit and goalkeeper, with the two players from last season who are featuring both asked to play different roles.
But a mix of individual errors, slack moments and casual defending are a concern.
I asked you lot on Twitter after the Blackpool game whether a defender or a striker should be signed next. We actually signed a goalkeeper, some young lad from the actual PSG, to make it about 91 new players. I’ve lost count. It’s a lot, anyway.
With a few days to go until the market closes, Burnley still seem to be active. There is talk about Cameron Archer of Aston Villa coming on loan, while Twitter journalists have claimed a deal is close for another versatile foreign forward, Anass Zaroury.
Both are attackers but reports indicate an experienced centre-back is on the menu too.
I’m starting to think that could be the final piece of the puzzle. I’m not excited about the prospect of Ashley Barnes coming on for half an hour to flop about every week, but Tella is an option up front. So is Darko Churlinov, who was a threat at Wigan.
Rodriguez has been great since coming into the side but we have to be wary about his injury record, even though Vincent Kompany is trying to rest him when he can. If and when Twine is ready to play a part, our attacking options will be pretty good.
At the back, I’m really not convinced. Taylor had another pretty bad game on Saturday and he seems to be getting worse in his new role, rather than better. I feel for Taylor as a different position, a complete change in playing style and a fresh face in the dugout is a lot to take on. But six games feels like enough to make a judgment call.
It just isn’t working with Taylor at centre-back. Burnley looked far more stable in the second half when Josh Cullen shuffled across to provide more help for Taylor and Vitinho, who was terrific deputising for the suspended Ian Maatsen, yet it is clearly a weakness in our side that opposition teams are going to target. Ruthlessly.
It’s tricky as CJ Egan-Riley and Luke McNally have seen minimal game time - the former making his league debut on Saturday, while the latter did not even get a run in the cup - and another centre-back signing would push them down the pecking order.
Both Egan-Riley and McNally could be seen as signings with an eye for the future - but we need results now. I’m not sure we’re going to get them with Taylor at CB.
Letters
On the latter topic of our remaining transfer business, here’s Adam:
Ideally we need both a number 9 *and* some experience in defence. I can't help thinking that if experience was what Kompany wanted, his first task of the summer would be to get some in. Or, indeed, we would've tried harder to tie down one of the now-former central defenders before they went.
That leaves me to conclude that Kompany thinks that he can train our new recruits up himself, without need for fresh leadership on the pitch.
It’s a fair point, but the fact there are still people like Gary Cahill on the market perhaps suggests leaving that signing until last could have paid off, if it was the plan.
If Kompany does want to train up defenders it makes me wonder where on earth McNally is even more… if he’s deemed not ready, why did we buy him for £2 million? Sure, the guy is probably pretty raw, but we’re playing a left-back instead? Weird!
Liam also got in touch after last week’s piece on Muric:
I think that the criticising the fans who were frustrated with the playing out from the back is a bit of blind faith. The keeper looked ill at ease whenever he had the ball at his feet and seemed to need to concentrate to make the simplest pass.
The first goal was a howler and changed the whole game. A mistake is fair enough but to then continue the same approach (and repeat the mistake 2-3 times) is crazy. If Kompany saw the first half and said 'carry on, it's working' then I'd be amazed (although the first minute of the second half suggests that perhaps he did).
Nothing wrong with trying to play from the back but mix it up and don't take stupid chances. Against a better team it would have been a 1-0 defeat.
I don’t really agree - Muric takes risks because he’s too comfortable, if anything. He did kick longer at times in the Wigan win, so perhaps that has been tweaked a bit.
And on the latter point, I haven’t watched every game of every team this season, but the standard of the Championship so far has not impressed me one bit. Maybe we would have lost to a better team than Blackpool, but who are these better teams?
There’s nothing out there for us to fear at all and promotion is a realistic goal.
The transfer window will have closed by the time I next land in your inbox, so I’m asking: how satisfied are you with the complete squad rebuild over the summer?
Defender
We need an experienced CB to add to our young team and protect Muric. The style of play is exciting and can only improve as the team gel together and gain experience.