European Adventure, Defending – Two things that have gone wrong for Burnley this season
Sean Dyche and Burnley were last season’s surprise package in the Premier League, securing European football in the process. However, this year things haven’t really shaped up the way the manager would have wanted.
Burnley have lost three out their first four games in the Premier League and currently sit 19th in the standings. Dyche’s side are yet to register their first win of the season.
Furthermore, Burnley’s European adventures have also been halted after the club’s return to the European scenario after a span of 51 years. They successfully overcame the challenges of Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, but could not get past Olympiacos in the playoffs.
Here are the two reasons for Burnley’s poor start to the season.
1. European Adventure
It was a memorable occasion for the Burnley fans as their club returned to the European scenario after a long span of 51 years. They showed a lot of character in the Premier League last season and staged some impressive performances against the big guns which saw Dyche’s men finish 7th in the standings.
However, their European adventure was short-lived. Although they progressed through the qualifying rounds after a couple of impressive wins over Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir, they could not overturn a two-goal deficit at home in the final leg of the playoffs against Olympiacos.
To be honest, Burnley’s European campaign has massively jeopardized their Premier League campaign so far. They faced Watford just two days after their win over Istanbul in the Europa League qualifying round and the tired legs took its toll. The players apparently lacked the intensity to make a significant impact.
The Clarets then faced Fulham and Manchester United just within two to three days following their playoffs against Olympiacos. Fatigued and unprepared, they made too many errors on the pitch to allow Fulham four goals on the day. In the game against United, they lacked the desire to compete and looked totally dejected after the end of their European dreams.
In an ideal scenario, Burnley should have invested more this summer to add sufficient depth to their squad which would have allowed Dyche to rotate his players effectively between the league games and the European fixtures. However, as is the case right now, they have a very small squad which can stretch with two to three injuries.
2. Poor Defending
Burnley did not excel in the Premier League last season by scoring loads of goals. It was rather their tight and resolute defens=ce that came to their rescue more often than not. The Clarets finished the season last time around with one of the best defensive records in the Premier League, conceding just 39 goals from 38 games, scoring 36 in the process.
This time though, their defence hasn’t looked impervious at all. James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, who formed a formidable partnership at the heart of Burnley’s defence last season, have looked pretty ordinary. Sean Dyche tried to strengthen his squad by the addition of Ben Gibson but the new signing hasn’t worked any wonders at the back either. The full-backs- Matthew Lowton and Stephen Ward have allowed too much space down the flanks for the opposition to exploit.
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Consequently, Burnley have already conceded 9 goals from their first four games in the League. Their defensive showing has been nowhere close to the standards that they had set last season.
