Fixing the defence
Plus: Natalie on IMD
Well, where do you start with that one? Burnley are the new Entertainers with three goals scored in two straight home games, but there are now concerns at the other end.
Fixing the defence
As fun as Saturday’s game was - two exciting home matches in a row, what’s going on? - I’m sure Sean Dyche will have been fuming at the state of our defending at half-time.
It was a particularly stark turnaround after we had defended fairly solidly at Chelsea before the break. With Palace missing two sitters in the first half, it is no exaggeration to say they could have had five before the interval, which is completely unacceptable.
Burnley did improve a lot at the back in the second half, but had Palace been more clinical in front of goal the game would have been put away in the opening 45 minutes.
All goals are normally preventable to an extent but Palace’s trio were all so soft from a Burnley perspective. Their first came after a weak Maxwel Cornet clearing header - I think we will let him off given what he did later - while a missed Charlie Taylor tackle left us wide open for the second. The third is just bizarre - three defenders back on the line with Nick Pope and none of them trying to actually defend their six-yard box.
It’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what is going wrong in our defence. Pope had a sticky start to the season but could do little about any of Saturday’s goals and he has looked to be back in good form lately. Ben Mee and James Tarkowski have been among our best performers for years, so it’s hard to question them too much either - though both of them were very ordinary in the box they’re actually paid to play in.
I still think too many opposition attacks are coming from wide areas - two Palace goals came from crosses on our left that were allowed far too easily - but it’s difficult to push too hard for either Matt Lowton or Charlie Taylor to be dropped either.
Lowton may be the player most at risk of losing his place, but with Connor Roberts not even in the matchday squad on Saturday that change is not seemingly imminent. Whatever is going on with Roberts - he is fit enough to play for Wales but deemed to be a worse option than a 59-year-old Phil Bardsley - Dyche does not deem him ready.
Tarkowski will sit out Sunday’s visit of Tottenham after collecting his fifth booking. That means another chance for Nathan Collins to impress and it will be interesting to see how the Republic of Ireland defender gets on next to Mee, with that partnership expected to be our first-choice next term when Tarkowski leaves at the end of his deal.
Should Collins and Mee shut out Antonio Conte’s new-look Spurs, Dyche will have a bigger decision to make over whether to bring Tarkowski straight back into the team.
Protection from midfield is still not good enough but again, it isn’t easy to see a solution in terms of personnel. Earlier in the season I thought putting in Jack Cork was an obvious move, but having seen his off-the-pace displays since then I’m not sure he’s still got a lot to offer at this level. Like Collins, Cork will have to deputise next weekend with Ashley Westwood also set to be missing due to a one-match ban.
A change of system could be an option. We have talked about a few of the choices available to Dyche over the last few months in the newsletter, but we all know he prefers to use 4-4-2. And with Cornet’s partnership with Chris Wood bearing fruit right now, anything that breaks that up might not be sensible at this time either.
So it isn’t easy to see how we fix the defence, other than players stepping up and doing their jobs properly. Individual errors are still proving to be far too costly for Burnley.
There isn’t much point in Cornet scoring a Goal of the Season contender basically every week if we’re going to ship as many poor goals as we have been doing of late.
The good news is that teams are usually more in danger of relegation if they are not scoring. Burnley have found the net nine times in four games: we have scored more times this season than Arsenal, Wolves and Spurs, who sit fifth to seventh. And as poor as we have been at the back this year, Manchester United have conceded more.
I would expect Dyche and the defence to put things right sooner rather than later.
International Men’s Day
To mark IMD, which was Friday, we are republishing Natalie’s piece from the Telegraph here.
I write this week's column on International Men's Day, a day set aside to celebrate the positive value men bring to the world, their families and their communities.
This year's focus has been on highlighting positive role models and raising awareness of men's well-being. And, importantly, improving gender relations.
Two examples of the impact men have on society grabbed my attention this week.
The first was our skipper, Ben Mee, who launched his own social media channels this week, and used that platform to stand alongside wife Sarah and bring awareness to premature birth. I have always been proud to have Ben at the helm, but this was dialled up to a hundred this week. Seeing him so composed and eloquent was one thing, but it was the support he threw behind Sarah that was most impressive.
Sarah is not a public figure, nor has she had the benefit of the media training that Premier League players receive. She must have so comfortable in that environment with Ben beside her.
The second was the survey carried out by the Football Supporters’ Association on match-going women. Perhaps unsurprisingly, women are still experiencing unwanted physical attention at football games.
I have experienced this: just a month ago I went to watch Morecambe v Sheffield Wednesday (as a neutral fan).
Two men in that space of 90 minutes took an opportunity to touch me inappropriately whilst walking past me on the terraces. That is just never, ever acceptable.
Equality and fairness are important in all aspects of life, but we sometimes overlook the role football can play in this.
It isn’t a man's game. It isn't a women-free zone. It is our beloved national sport to be enjoyed by all.
I wish all of our readers a happy International Men's Day for 2021 and thank each and every one of you who has stood up for their friends, their family and their communities in striving for an even playing field. I respect you.
Podcasts and quiz question
Listen out for the analysis show looking at the Palace draw in the next couple of days.
Here’s this week’s quiz question - listen to the next NNN preview show for the answer.
Prior to the match at the weekend, which current Burnley player was the top scorer in matches against Crystal Palace at Turf Moor in all competitions?
I’m on this week’s EPL Round Table podcast talking about the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and all sorts of other Premier League stuff, so give it a listen, if you want.
Fantasy football
Joe is on top of the No Nay Never league after this weekend’s action, though his cushion has been cut despite a 73-point haul. I’m still not in the top 50. Boooo.
Birthdays and anniversaries
A big birthday today with Dwight McNeil turning 22. It’s easy to forget how young McNeil still is considering he has already played well over 100 games for us.
Other birthdays this week include Junior Stanislas, who will be 32 on Friday.
We have only recorded one victory in our past seven games #OnThisDay, so let’s look back at this Danny Ings-inspired 2-1 win over Stoke City in the 2014-15 season.
Tweet of the week
Letters
Mark wrote in over the weekend with some thoughts on the Palace game:
I thought attacking-wise we were excellent, scoring three goals and should have won 4-3 in the dying seconds - I wonder if Cornet was still on would he have taken that chance? But at least Vydra got close. I think if we keep on making chances like we did Saturday we should be fine. But have the defence to sort out we have to stop shipping goals at the back, Palace aren't better than us and we should be beating teams like that. I don't know if Tarks is making mistakes on purpose to get a move on the January window, just thinking out loud.
Tarks didn’t have a good day at the back but got two assists - I wouldn’t personally question his commitment though speculation about his future could be a distraction. He actually got in the team of the week on WhoScored, presumably due to the assists.
It might not be a bad time to get another look at Collins on Sunday but breaking up the proven Mee-Tarkowski partnership would be a very big call for Dyche to make.
If you have views on anything in this week’s newsletter, feel free to comment below.
Thought of the day
Josh Brownhill must be absolutely incredible at free kicks in training, right?