Collins to play Newcastle?
Plus: Postponement was correct
A late newsletter this week after the postponement on Saturday - more on that in a bit - but a solid point at Wolves takes us into a huge clash in a couple of days’ time.
Collins to play Newcastle?
Burnley have kept three clean sheets in all competitions this season. Nathan Collins has been in the defence in all of those matches. Yes, the sample size is small and two of those games were against Norwich City and Newcastle United, but still. He has not done anything wrong in his few appearances since joining the club from Stoke City.
So should he play at the weekend? It’s worth debating, although most fans probably expect that Sean Dyche will bring James Tarkowski straight back into the defence.
Collins has made a strong case, though. Raul Jimenez is one of the better strikers in the Premier League - or at least he was before his skull injury. Collins did not give him a sniff and was probably the most impressive performer of the night at Molineux.
It is true that Wolves might have won easily if Adama Traore had any end product. But he doesn’t, so they didn’t, and Burnley were solid value for what is a key point.
The Tarkowski-Mee partnership is technically proven to be reliable, though it is not as if the duo have been playing well this season. Conceding three at home to Crystal Palace - and the Eagles could have had a few more - is hardly a sign of a solid defence.
Tarkowski is a tough one to assess. Opinions are clouded by the fact this is almost certain to be his last season with the Clarets. The situation is becoming similar to how fans fell out of love with Danny Ings towards the end of his time at the club. Some people still blame Ings for that relegation - despite the fairly important fact someone else missed a crucial penalty - even though he was easily our best player.
As I said last week, I don’t doubt Tarkowski’s commitment. But with so much wild speculation about his future, it is inevitable this will be on his mind. With a lot of the media having apparently decided that Tarkowski to Newcastle is a done deal, he will be right in the spotlight at the weekend. Taking him out of the firing line may be a smart move, though Tarkowski would likely prefer to play than to sit on the bench. Tarkowski is essentially in the shop window right now, but being keen to impress and earn his next contract could lead to errors being made as he is trying too hard to shine.
Dyche is right to highlight that the plan for Collins follows the way Burnley have brought other defenders into the team during his time in charge. Tarkowski had to be patient after forcing a move from Brentford, biding his time until Michael Keane was sold following relegation from the Premier League and a spot next to Mee opened up.
It is also easy to forget now that Mee, the lynchpin of our defence for so long, got into the side at left-back first before he then shuffled into the middle and didn’t look back.
This is how Dyche likes to play it. Collins can watch on and learn this season, soaking up everything he needs to know about playing in central defence for Burnley. But his chances to play, if Dyche opts to retain faith with Tarkowski and Mee, may be limited.
While Tarkowski has served his ban for five bookings already, Mee has only collected two yellow cards in 10 Premier League games this term (#DirtyBurnley!), so his own suspension is not imminent. Collins could be waiting for the FA Cup to get started in January for his next chance to shine - and we all know Dyche’s cup record is not good.
Young players tend to develop faster when they play regularly. Just look at Dwight McNeil, who was very raw when Dyche first gave him a go, but did not take long to become the creative star of the show. If players are good enough, they are old enough.
Collins, while clearly not the quickest defender in the Premier League, certainly looks to be good enough. And with Burnley in the bottom three going into a crunch clash with Newcastle on Saturday, perhaps now is the time to shake things up somehow, though playing Collins and disrupting the (theoretically) tried-and-tested pairing of Tarkowski and Mee would be one of the biggest surprise selections Dyche has made.
I asked you lot on Twitter and you narrowly voted to stick with Tarks-Mee, but another option is to play all three. Burnley have used a back five under Dyche before.
It did not go well. Kevin Long joined the Tarkowski-Mee pairing for a couple of games in the middle of the 2018-19 season, when Dyche appeared to be flailing for solutions to fix a failing team. After almost taking a point away to Spurs - Christian Eriksen snatched victory in added time - Burnley lost 3-1 at Arsenal. A humiliating 5-1 thrashing at home to Everton on Boxing Day, one of the lowest moments of the Dyche era, saw Gibson replace Long. Gibson scored but Burnley were diabolical and he was hooked for McNeil in the second half. The back five has not been seen since.
That isn’t to say that Dyche should avoid using it again. Charlie Taylor’s issues with defensive positioning may be less problematic if he played as a wing-back, while Connor Roberts is tailor-made for that role on the other side. A 3-5-2 would allow McNeil to play centrally behind Maxwel Cornet and Chris Wood. It sounds alluring.
Collins would be an upgrade on Long or Gibson as a third centre-back and, crucially, Burnley have a goalkeeper now. Joe Hart was between the sticks during that run and Nick Pope, despite some struggles earlier in the season, is clearly in a different league.
I expect Collins to be on the bench on Saturday, but he is giving Dyche a headache.
Postponement was correct
I was surprised to see so much arguing about what I felt was obviously the right decision not to play the Spurs game. Not sure why, given arguing is social media’s default mode, but there you go. I also didn’t realise Twitter had so many experts on undersoil heating, with Paul Fletcher apparently making quite the idiot of himself too.
I feel for people who travelled only to have to turn back so close to kick-off - those Spurs fans who came over from America…ouch - but it clearly wasn’t safe. The pitch is just one factor. Fans have to be able to get into and out of the stadium safely. With the large amount of snow that came down in a short period in the hours before the game was due to be played, only one decision could be made. It was certainly the right one.
Podcasts and quiz question
There will be a bumper analysis show after the Newcastle match, so look out for that.
Listen to the preview show for the Newcastle game for the answer to this week’s quiz:
Chris Wood scored a first-half hat-trick last season, in Burnley's 4-0 away win at Wolves, but prior to that, who was the previous Burnley player to score a hat-trick in the first half of an away game?
Tweet of the week
Birthdays and anniversaries
Frank Sinclair is 50 tomorrow and Dean West will be 49 on Sunday. Happy birthday!
Just one win in our last five games #OnThisDay but, ooh, it was a good one - without a doubt Kevin McDonald’s finest day as a Claret. The Beast was brilliant as well:
We also drew 1-1 with that uncivilised lot down the road on December 2 a few years back, with Sam Vokes striking late to rescue a point in this Championship clash:
Thought of the day
We really missed Ashley Westwood - but at least Cornet also shoots from corners.