13-09-2015, 10:53
This is a difficult one to sum up.
It was probably our best performance of the season in some ways. We were away to one of the pre-season promotion favourites and we dominated the match for long spells after going behind early to an unstoppable free kick. We controlled possession for most of the game, CC out thought Dyche tactically and our extra man in CM meant we had plenty of opportunities to run at the Burnley defence.
The downside was that we either didn't convert possession into good enough chances or we were too profligate when they came.
Nuhiu put us back level with an excellent header from Pudil's well placed cross.
We dominated possession after this until the 70th minute. We did create quite a few chances but we didn't trouble their keeper. The chance to win it was when Nuhiu was set free by Forestieri but from 12 yards & with just the keeper to beat, he shot tamely into the keeper's midriff.
Forestieri had several less clear cut opportunities but his radar was off. On another day, he would have scored a couple.
Burnley, by contrast, were doing more with less. They created less but made Wildsmith work when they had chances and it became inevitable that we would be punished for our profligacy.
While CC should be praise for the way he set us up from the start, I think he failed to push for victory by waiting too long to make substitutions. Nuhiu had given their defence a hard time and it was right to bring Joao on after an hour to take advantage of their tiring legs. The option of Sougou for the final quarter would also have been good.
Instead, Nuhiu tired & became less effective & inevitably Burnley scored with two strikes which were both aided by a deflection, leaving Wildsmith stranded. Both goals came due to defensive lapses. Loovens was culpable with a basic error of getting the wrong side of his man and leaving us short handed, forcing Lees to cover the gap, which in turn left them two against one at the far post. This type of mistake should be eliminated at schoolboy level and cost us the match. A shame because otherwise, Loovens played well.
The third goal happened in stoppage time & was partly down to bad fortune in the way the goal bounced kindly for Gray but he also showed what you get with a £7m striker - goals when the chance arrives.
Wildsmith - 6 - no chance with the goals
Palmer - 6 - let down by team mates for second & third goals
Lees - 6 - usual steadiness
Loovens - 6 - good performance but lapse cost us the match
Pudil - 7 - bright debut, set up goal
Hutchinson - 7 - won the midfield, allowing our more skilful players to shine
Bannan - 7 - another bright debut
Lee - 6 - steady job
Forestieri - 6 - always a threat but radar was missing
Wallace - 6 - several dangerous crosses
Nuhiu - 7 - gave defence hard time for 70 mins, then tired, scored but missed great chance to win it
.....................................................................
Matias - hardly involved
Joao - hardly involved
The result was hard to take because we controlled a match away to a top six side yet failed to force their keeper into a worthwhile save. While Nuhiu missed the crucial chance, he played well overall but matches like this are won by that bit of quality and Burnley had it in Taylor & Gray. If Nuhiu had scored that chance or Fessi had scored with one of his half chances then I have little doubt that we would have won & we would be celebrating a great victory.
As it is, the doom mongers are out in force predicting a relegation struggle, the demise of CC and the end of the road for several players.
The truth is that no-one played badly yesterday & we gave a side that were in the PL last season a really tough time of it. There are things that should worry us though. We appear to be no nearer to knowing our best starting eleven than we were a month ago. CC seems to favour squad rotation to a level that means we are going to take a long time to build partnerships around the pitch.
Our lack of pace up front makes us easy to defend against. Defences can defend with a high line, knowing that Nuhiu isn't going to spin off the last defender & do them with his pace. Hutchinson still makes challenges that he shouldn't. SG never sorted this out and so far CC appears to have done little either. We have alternatives with Melo & Semedo but Hutchinson is a class above at this level but that ability is wasted if he is always getting injured, giving away free kicks in dangerous positions & treading on egg shells because an early yellow card.
If we play the way we played yesterday against Bolton then we should win but we have to get more shots on target and make the substitutions at the right time to win the match and not wait until it is slipping away.
So while the result was disappointing and it feels like points dropped, the performance suggests to me that results will come although that may be in the long term rather than the short term if he persists with so much squad rotation. My worry is that if results don't improve in the short term, there might be on long term for CC because I feel that DC is probably a trigger happy owner.
Most Attempts:
Forestieri 5
Bannan 5
Nuhiu 2
Most Attempts On Target:
Nuhiu 2
Most Tackles:
Loovens 4
Lee 3
Lees 2
Hutchinson 2
Wallace 2
Nuhiu 2
Most Interceptions:
Hutchinson 4
Loovens 3
Forestieri 2
Most Dribbles:
Forestieri 3
Nuhiu 3
Passing Accuracy:
Matias 100%
Joao 100%
Hutchinson 94%
Bannan 88%
Wallace 87%
Lee 82%
Forestieri 78%
Loovens 74%
Lees 72%
Pudil 70%
Palmer 68%
Nuhiu 49%
Wildsmith 47%
Key Passes:
Bannan 2
Total Touches:
Hutchinson 63
Pudil 63
Lees 62
Nuhiu 60
Loovens 54
Bannan 52
Palmer 52
Lee 51
Forestieri 50
Wildsmith 49
Wallace 46
Matias 7
Joao 1
This figures show that Hutchinson & Bannan were probably our most influential figures but we have to turn this into goals, starting on Tuesday.
It was probably our best performance of the season in some ways. We were away to one of the pre-season promotion favourites and we dominated the match for long spells after going behind early to an unstoppable free kick. We controlled possession for most of the game, CC out thought Dyche tactically and our extra man in CM meant we had plenty of opportunities to run at the Burnley defence.
The downside was that we either didn't convert possession into good enough chances or we were too profligate when they came.
Nuhiu put us back level with an excellent header from Pudil's well placed cross.
We dominated possession after this until the 70th minute. We did create quite a few chances but we didn't trouble their keeper. The chance to win it was when Nuhiu was set free by Forestieri but from 12 yards & with just the keeper to beat, he shot tamely into the keeper's midriff.
Forestieri had several less clear cut opportunities but his radar was off. On another day, he would have scored a couple.
Burnley, by contrast, were doing more with less. They created less but made Wildsmith work when they had chances and it became inevitable that we would be punished for our profligacy.
While CC should be praise for the way he set us up from the start, I think he failed to push for victory by waiting too long to make substitutions. Nuhiu had given their defence a hard time and it was right to bring Joao on after an hour to take advantage of their tiring legs. The option of Sougou for the final quarter would also have been good.
Instead, Nuhiu tired & became less effective & inevitably Burnley scored with two strikes which were both aided by a deflection, leaving Wildsmith stranded. Both goals came due to defensive lapses. Loovens was culpable with a basic error of getting the wrong side of his man and leaving us short handed, forcing Lees to cover the gap, which in turn left them two against one at the far post. This type of mistake should be eliminated at schoolboy level and cost us the match. A shame because otherwise, Loovens played well.
The third goal happened in stoppage time & was partly down to bad fortune in the way the goal bounced kindly for Gray but he also showed what you get with a £7m striker - goals when the chance arrives.
Wildsmith - 6 - no chance with the goals
Palmer - 6 - let down by team mates for second & third goals
Lees - 6 - usual steadiness
Loovens - 6 - good performance but lapse cost us the match
Pudil - 7 - bright debut, set up goal
Hutchinson - 7 - won the midfield, allowing our more skilful players to shine
Bannan - 7 - another bright debut
Lee - 6 - steady job
Forestieri - 6 - always a threat but radar was missing
Wallace - 6 - several dangerous crosses
Nuhiu - 7 - gave defence hard time for 70 mins, then tired, scored but missed great chance to win it
.....................................................................
Matias - hardly involved
Joao - hardly involved
The result was hard to take because we controlled a match away to a top six side yet failed to force their keeper into a worthwhile save. While Nuhiu missed the crucial chance, he played well overall but matches like this are won by that bit of quality and Burnley had it in Taylor & Gray. If Nuhiu had scored that chance or Fessi had scored with one of his half chances then I have little doubt that we would have won & we would be celebrating a great victory.
As it is, the doom mongers are out in force predicting a relegation struggle, the demise of CC and the end of the road for several players.
The truth is that no-one played badly yesterday & we gave a side that were in the PL last season a really tough time of it. There are things that should worry us though. We appear to be no nearer to knowing our best starting eleven than we were a month ago. CC seems to favour squad rotation to a level that means we are going to take a long time to build partnerships around the pitch.
Our lack of pace up front makes us easy to defend against. Defences can defend with a high line, knowing that Nuhiu isn't going to spin off the last defender & do them with his pace. Hutchinson still makes challenges that he shouldn't. SG never sorted this out and so far CC appears to have done little either. We have alternatives with Melo & Semedo but Hutchinson is a class above at this level but that ability is wasted if he is always getting injured, giving away free kicks in dangerous positions & treading on egg shells because an early yellow card.
If we play the way we played yesterday against Bolton then we should win but we have to get more shots on target and make the substitutions at the right time to win the match and not wait until it is slipping away.
So while the result was disappointing and it feels like points dropped, the performance suggests to me that results will come although that may be in the long term rather than the short term if he persists with so much squad rotation. My worry is that if results don't improve in the short term, there might be on long term for CC because I feel that DC is probably a trigger happy owner.
Most Attempts:
Forestieri 5
Bannan 5
Nuhiu 2
Most Attempts On Target:
Nuhiu 2
Most Tackles:
Loovens 4
Lee 3
Lees 2
Hutchinson 2
Wallace 2
Nuhiu 2
Most Interceptions:
Hutchinson 4
Loovens 3
Forestieri 2
Most Dribbles:
Forestieri 3
Nuhiu 3
Passing Accuracy:
Matias 100%
Joao 100%
Hutchinson 94%
Bannan 88%
Wallace 87%
Lee 82%
Forestieri 78%
Loovens 74%
Lees 72%
Pudil 70%
Palmer 68%
Nuhiu 49%
Wildsmith 47%
Key Passes:
Bannan 2
Total Touches:
Hutchinson 63
Pudil 63
Lees 62
Nuhiu 60
Loovens 54
Bannan 52
Palmer 52
Lee 51
Forestieri 50
Wildsmith 49
Wallace 46
Matias 7
Joao 1
This figures show that Hutchinson & Bannan were probably our most influential figures but we have to turn this into goals, starting on Tuesday.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.