Deja vu
Plus: Will there be three worse teams?
Hello again - a 2-2 draw at Leicester City this weekend, so let’s crack on. Remember you can always comment at the bottom with any feedback, or your opinions.
Deja vu
After the first game of the season, a 2-1 defeat to Brighton where we gave up the lead to lose at home, the headline of the newsletter was ‘Barnes sub proves costly’.
It’s tempting to copy and paste what I wrote then as it applies again this week.
Burnley were very good for the most part at Leicester, with Matej Vydra bringing vital fresh energy to the attack in place of Ashley Barnes, while Maxwel Cornet was just brilliant. Obviously, both of them went off injured, because we can’t have nice things.
While it’s fair to credit Sean Dyche for two changes to the XI that made a difference, it was, unfortunately, the same old story with the manager then too reactive in-game. (It would also have been interesting to see if Jay Rodriguez would have started had he been available after his four-goal haul against Rochdale in midweek in the EFL Cup.)
Burnley deservedly led thanks to Cornet’s cracker and Jamie Vardy flicking Ashley Westwood’s corner into his own net, but they then started to sit very deep. That’s OK if you trust your defence to stay solid, but we haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of our past nine games. And the last one came against Fulham, which shouldn’t even count.
Vydra needing to go off with a sore back - he also looked shattered after putting in a massive shift - left Dyche with a decision to make with about 15 minutes to play.
He got it wrong. You can see the logic of Dyche opting for Barnes. When Barnes is playing well, he helps the team to get up the pitch and is great at winning cheap fouls - as frustrating as it is to watch him collapse to the deck after the slightest contact.
But Burnley had lost control of the midfield battle. Westwood has developed a habit of fading badly during second halves this season and it was the same again on Saturday.
The shape was OK but Leicester were getting through Burnley too easily. It seemed to be crying out for a change to 4-5-1. And this is not just with the benefit of hindsight.
If I can see that from watching on a dodgy stream, there’s no excuse for Dyche not to. I’m aware I’m probably coming across as a Jack Cork ultra of late - and I know he was at fault for the Rochdale goal - but I’m not sure why he appears to have been sidelined.
Cork for Vydra was not the only change available other than putting on Barnes. Aaron Lennon could have come on to offer a counter-attacking threat with McNeil moving inside. Nathan Collins could have come on with a shift to a back five. Erik Pieters could have come on to sit just in front of Charlie Taylor and offer more protection on the left than McNeil does late in games when he understandably begins to tire. Matt Lowton had been outstanding but was tired, so Phil Bardsley could have been useful.
In the end, Leicester’s equaliser felt inevitable. To be fair to Barnes, he then was involved in the late Chris Wood header that was VARred off for offside, but 2-2 felt about right on balance. Leicester are a good side; a point is nothing to be sniffed at.
There were some fingers pointed at Nick Pope for both Vardy goals. But while Pope hasn’t started the season particularly well and made the second equaliser a little too easy, if you let one of the Premier League’s greatest ever finishers run through on goal unchallenged, he is very likely to score. The key mistakes were in front of Pope again.
Dyche can’t do much about his defenders being caught out of position or losing concentration and switching off, but he can act to stiffen up Burnley’s midfield.
Why he continues to ask Westwood and Josh Brownhill to run themselves into the ground every week, with no help offered from the bench, is a total mystery to me.
There will be three worse teams
I don’t think panic is setting in at all, but two points from six games is a poor return.
Dyche has been keen to highlight that performances are broadly good, but it’s often a bad sign when teams are playing well and they are not getting enough to show for it.
We’ve actually scored the same number of goals as Arsenal and only conceded one more, which just shows the importance of clean sheets to closing out results. They’re in the top half and we’re in the bottom three. That’s the fine margins, as Dyche says.
So while it’s early days, I think there will comfortably be three worse teams than us.
Clearly, the next game is huge and if we don’t beat Norwich at the Turf on Saturday then that panic button might be getting smashed sharpish. Norwich have had a horror run of fixtures to start with, but they do look miles from the standard required. You don’t get relegated before October but it’s already very hard to see them staying up.
I watched Southampton 0-1 Wolves on Sunday and both those teams look pretty poor. Wolves will probably be OK now Raul Jimenez is getting back to his best but there isn’t much about the Saints with Danny Ings gone. Newcastle haven’t won yet and neither have Leeds, who are looking a bit Second Season Syndrome-y to me.
Watford and Crystal Palace might be mid-table right now but I’d take us to finish above at least one of them too. I’m not worried. Yet. Ask me again next week…
Opposition view: Burnley wasted a lot of time
Thanks to Leicester fan Jim for this view of the game:
Strange old match really. We really struggled with how direct Burnley were. Had no answer to the long ball into the channel for Wood. Worrying blueprint for how teams can get at the soft centre-backs going forward. Burnley wasted a lot of time (all within the rules of course - no bookings for time-wasting) and could easily have snatched it at the end. Think a draw was fair on balance, but felt like the kind of game we needed to be winning if we want to challenge for Europe again this season.
We’ve spent money in the summer, not sold a big player and handed out a few extensions. Squad depth will be tested again with Thursday night games though.
Quiz questions
This week’s quiz is a two-parter - listen to the next preview show for answers.
Which player scored Burnley's first goal at Leicester's current stadium, following their move from their old Filbert Street ground in 2002?
Apart from the above answer - and also Andy Gray - who scored the winning goals for Burnley in away games at Leicester in 2006 and 2007, which other player has scored a winning goal for the Clarets at Leicester's current stadium?
Fantasy football
A shocking weekend for me (after playing my wildcard!) thanks to big fat blanks from Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw. Going into the Monday night game, the No Nay Never league is topped by Dec’s excellently named Hotel? Thiago with 449 points.
Birthdays and anniversaries
Jason Shackell celebrates his 38th birthday today. An outstanding centre-back at his best for Burnley. Other former Clarets with birthdays this week of note include Peter Swan (55) and Ted McMinn (59), with those both coming tomorrow.
We have had a few good wins #OnThisDay, beating Nottingham Forest 5-1, Preston North End 3-1 and Ipswich Town 3-0. In the latter victory, Chris McCann headed home a debut goal and there was a cracking strike from Garreth O’Connor too.
Tweet of the week
Recommended reading etc
The Athletic’s wrap of Saturday’s game (£ - subscription required) focuses on Cornet.
I’d also noted his positioning was superb, with excellent cover for Taylor. He’s a loss.
Dyche’s post-game comments seem relatively hopeful Cornet won’t be out for too long.
Letters
Mark wrote in with this note:
I was listening to the review show podcast - I agreed with the panel and been saying it for ages why does Sean keep playing that functional midfield pair in the middle, Brownhill and Westwood both always give the ball away. Brownhill is a hot head and Westwood has to always put his two penth in. For the life in me I can't see why he doesn't start with Jack Cork who's a far better player than both.
I’m certainly with you on Cork, though I felt Brownhill had his best game of the season at Leicester. At some point, I’m going to take a look at our points per game with and without Cork as I suspect our results tend to be far better when he plays.
Natalie also told me she thought last week’s newsletter was the best one yet. I’m trying not to take that too personally given Mike wrote most of it…
I’m always looking for fans (er, of Burnley, not of me) to contribute, so hit me up @JamieSmithSport if you want to write something. Or just comment below!
Thought of the day
How have teams not learned Westwood always shoots from his first corner?