While it was a turgid watch, does anyone else think that if played as originally scheduled we would have lost the fixture? If your a glass half full person, we are a point behind Norwich in 17th with a game in hand and a +15 goal difference. It’s going to be a dog fight, but the bottom five teams have a chance of dragging Leeds and Brentford into the scrap. We are not dead and buried yet.
I think we got what I hoped for from Hodgson and Ray, it was a much more structured defensive display and finally a clean sheet, does this mean we haven't got the record for the most amount of clean sheets? If we can start keeping clean sheets and add Ismaila Sarr and Emmanual Dennis to the line up we may start to get some wins.
Well, you are definitely wrong, it's Mark from Westlife, you can tell it's an Irish person putting on a Murican accent. If I am wrong I will eat my hat. Mushroom is Charlotte Church. Did Watford play tonight?
[/QUOTE] If your a glass half full person, we are a point behind Norwich in 17th with a game in hand and a +15 goal difference. It’s going to be a dog fight, but the bottom five teams have a chance of dragging Leeds and Brentford into the scrap. We are not dead and buried yet.[/QUOTE] I've just posted something very similar to the above quote on the "Do We Survive" thread #108
Particularly with Sarr and Dennis out and I guess Kalu not being involved for whatever reason. I'd be more bothered if he was started when those 2/3 are available.
There was a passage of play towards the very end that perfectly encapsulated why we’re going down. Cleverley delivers yet another corner straight to the first man, Burnley break forwards, Cathcart makes an absolutely mindless foul on a player going nowhere and gifts them a free-kick in a great position. Effortlessly turning what should have been a dangerous situation for us, into a chance for them through a complete inability to do the basics like deliver a corner, or read the situation and not dive in. Or our late free kick, when we sent a load of players forward only for Foster to inexplicably slice it straight to a Burnley player. We’re just not good enough mentally, technically, and tactically. I appreciate Cleverley for being a good servant, but that was genuinely one of the worst cameo performances I’ve ever seen. So far off the pace. Slow in the tackle and repeated mindless passes to Burnley players. Sema was so far out of his depth, it was tragic. There was a moment when the ball came to him in the air, with not a single player from either side within 20 yards, and his first touch landed at the feet of a Burnley player. Astonishing. Not going to be excited about a clean sheet against a team that looked even ******* than us, but I suppose it was nice to somehow get through 90 minutes without a completely calamitous goal conceded. Somehow, we probably deserved to edge it. That’s how bad Burnley are.
The performance reminded me a lot of Javi’s first game, that 0-0 draw at Stoke. It wasn’t pretty but it stopped the rot and established some belief. Obviously we were much less in the mire that year although things did feel pretty precarious at the time. A few weeks later we beat Chelsea 4-1 at the Vic, playing some beautiful stuff. Drab but potentially something to build on. Whether we do remains to be seen, of course. Hopefully Dennis and Louza can come in for Sema and Kayembe (who disappointed me but Cleverley’s struggles made me thing his performance might not have been so bad) at West Ham. Kucka was not an inspiring choice for RM but thought he had probably are two most creative/threatening moments (the crosses for King and Pedro) which was v surprising.
A powderpuff performance from the front two cost us the three points today, we created chances but unfortunately every shot was pretty tame. Defensively we looked solid with us looking compact in two banks of four. The penalty decision was awful, by the rules it has to be a pen as it was in an unnatural position. But we can't rely on refs decisions we have to make our own luck. Hopefully with Dennis, Sarr and Kalu coming in to the side we can inject more thrust as the game was calling out for a bit of pace yesterday. Burnley are absolute bobbins.
Roy has started with a clran sheet. Yes Burnley are bad but they did have their 12m new forward and Cornet back - and we were missing Sarr and Dennis... A goalless draw is never "good" but in the context of the season it might be. The worry is Roy may need longer to turn it around than he has got. We need a couple of wins soon or it's too late.
The one time Sema thought he'd have a go at Roberts he made room for the cross and then thumped it straight out for a goal kick. Looking forward to seeing more of that.
Not a great game to watch thanks to the swirling wind and belting rain off the Pennines, but at least we didn't lose for a change. Burnley had 10 mins or so right at the start, where it looked like it was going to be another game in the same mould as the previous few - we looked very shaky. Fortunately they were worse than we are and we started to come into the game more and more, to the point where Burnley could hardly get out of their half for the 10 mins or so before HT. However, there was little end product - even off target. As always seems to happen, the final pass is hopelessly overhit and Burnley clear easily, or the cross sails behind for a gk, or our player picks up the ball and heads like an arrow dribbling towards the nearest cluster of 2 or 3 Burnley players he can lose the ball to. Burnley were, in general, awful. They gave the ball away so much and passed it straight to our players directly on many occasions (causing considerable unrest amongst the lancs locals). Any other team would have probably scored at least a couple from those giveaways along with at least two comical primary school-style massive slices of a high ball into their own box. Without Dennis and Sarr, we couldn't though. Their new signing, Gout Horstvessel, was rubbish too. He did one pretty good header on (you'd expect a 7'6" beanpole to win headers though) and was involved in one decent passing move for them, but apart from that - zilch. He won't keep them up. I reckon they're pretty much nailed on for one of the relegation spots. This game had the least injury time I've ever seen in a Prem game, even when the opposition big team are leading 1-0 and we've got them under desperate pressure. 2 minutes only. I suppose everyone was cold, wet, fed up with shyte football and just wanted to go home. Player ratings:- Ben Foster - Great to have our semi-distracted Youtuber back between the sticks in place of the dodgy, self-regarding Austrian flapper. He had barely anything to do, but as usual, claimed a few high balls and set pieces that Burnley pumped into the area without any fuss or panic. Distribution was a bit shaky. It looked like he decided to wear carpet slippers rather than boots, because he kept (hilariously) slipping over on his kicks and landing on his arse. The duff free kick at the end which was mentioned above was another slip. 7/10 Kiko Femenia - Pretty quiet on the attacking front and didn't get too many crosses in. Doesn't have the same sort of link up play with Kucka as he does with Sarr. They tried hard, but it didn't really work. Dealt pretty well with the defensive side of things, although most Burnley threat seemed to come down our left hand side. Don't think he enjoyed the conditions too much. 6.5/10 Craig Cathcart - Very good performance from him considering the conditions and who he was up against. There was one nearly-calamitous slip early on, which might well have cost us against a decent opponent, but apart from that he was solid and dependable. Defended very well and he looks so much better when he has a half decent defender next to him. Kept that Maxwell Cornet very quiet. He gets an absolute slating on here, but as things stand he's one of our most reliable and dependable defenders. 7/10 Samir - Another good performance from him and looks like an upgrade on WTE. Defended solidly alongside Cathcart. 6.5/10 Kamara - Nice haircut! Shame it got soaked - that's going to frizz like mad today. My MOTM. Very solid performance defensively and decent balls and crosses forward. Although Burnley tried most of their attacks down his side, he dealt very well with them. Looks very good at one on one defending - they can't just bamboozle and run past him like they can with Masina. There was one incident where Lennon picked up the ball and ran at him as last defender, but he didn't panic, didn't clasp his bloody hands behind his back and let him run past him in the Watford style we're used to. Managed to defend and knock it out for a throw, allowing us to reorganise. Doesn't make the Ngakia mistake of overplaying either - gets rid of the danger in the way he should. So far looks like the pick of our Jan signings. 7.5/10. Kucka - Strange to see him playing wide right and he didn't do too badly at it. Tackled strongly and put himself about well. Won the ball back several times and helped create one or two of our chances. However he was one of the major culprits for rubbish final balls and for some bizarre reason seems incapable at times of passing the ball 18 inches to a teammate! On a couple of occasions he misdirected simple passes straight to the opposition, which in other games would have seen us concede. Tried to link up with Kiko, but doesn't really have the fast feet and reactions to do it. I was a bit surprised to see him play the full 90, but he must be getting fitter because he didn't seem to struggle even in the awful conditions. 6/10 Sissoko - Another pretty poor game from him. He doesn't really stand out in the midfield like you'd expect someone with his ability and experience to do. Another one who didn't like the weather. Failed to impose himself. I know he's the captain and all, but I wondered whether Louza might replace him second half and possibly against Spam on Tue? 5.5/10. Kayembe - The more dynamic of the midfield pairing. Did well again and I'm happy with his signing. Put himself about, won the ball well and distributed it well. Played some good forward attacking passes. We definitely lost momentum when he was subbed off. Hope he's not injured at all. 6.5/10 Sema - Poor Ken. Tried hard. Didn't achieve. If he can't do it against Burnley, then you have to think he can't do it against anybody. 5/10. Joao Pedro - Always great enthusiasm and unafraid to have a shot. Has some very quick feet and good skills. Decision making questionable (e.g. running straight into trouble at lot) and some extra crappy passes at times - especially that one that sent King out way wide when we were clean through on goal. Partnership with King doesn't seem to be working and they always seem to be having a go at one another. I wonder whether a different partnership might work better? JP/Dennis? JP/Fletcher? Anyway, our most dangerous forward at the moment though. 7/10. Josh King - People like him because he 'looks' like a centre forward they say. However he doesn't look much like a forward when he hits tame 2mph daisy cutters straight at the keeper time after time. He looks quite slow and ponderous and lacking in an instinct for goal. I'm not nearly as convinced by him as others seem to be and think that others (don't laugh, Fletcher?) ought to get a look in soon if his rotten goalscoring form continues. On the positive side, he did hold the ball up well and contribute to some of the forward play. Some good runs too, although a waste of time when they end up with a pathetic shot. One lovely and very unexpected bit of skill towards the end where he did a trick that confounded the Burnley forward and left him for dead. Only trouble was that where he did it, in those conditions, if it had failed to come off and he'd lost the ball, we would have been in deep, deep trouble. 5.5/10. Subs:- Tom Cleverly - Well off the pace when he came on for Kayembe and we lost a lot of our organisation and penetration. One or two horrible errors, including a desperate corner played behind all our players waiting the cross in the box and straight to their forwards who all charged forward with the ball - I think it was 6 against 3 at one point and I was filling my knickers. Other corners went straight to the first defender. If we're unable to take corners without opening ourselves up to extreme danger, I'd suggest that in future we put another player in close to Tom at the corner, who can play it straight out for an opposition throw near their own corner flag. That would be a whole lot more effective use of a corner than at present. You do have to say though, that he had our best shot on goal and was a little unlucky with it. Pope made a very good save - decent keeper he is. 5/10. Cucho - I like him coming on as sub. He always seems to inject a bit of energy. Came on with 7 mins left and perhaps it might have been an idea to have given him 5 or 10 mins more. Replaced JP, whereas I would probably have hauled King off. 6/10.
Yeah, fair point about having Cornet back, and we managed to avoid conceding from a set-piece, but given how utterly desperate they were, I’m not expecting us to keep many more clean sheets. Ultimately, we played a team who were almost as bad as us, and we still didn’t win. Maybe Sarr will come back and hit a run of form, and perhaps Dennis will rediscover his golden touch, but equally, given their inconsistent careers thus far, it’s probably more likely they won’t have the impact we’re placing our hopes on.
Is it though? Maybe… Would of thought there would have been more Welsh-related clues but then there weren’t that many for Aled Jones.
Sarr hasn't been that inconsistent really. Even when off form for him he's still a threat. The fact our last win came in his last game says it all. He's had an impact for Senegal lately as well. Dennis is more difficult to predict, but Roy is a decent manager to have to help him rediscover his earlier vigour.
Good summary Clive and agree with the vast majority of that. I thought you were rather too critical of Sissoko. He showed so much energy getting up and back and snuffing out loads of Burnley moves at source. He isn't always easy on the eye with his control and we all know he could still be looking for a first goal for us a few years from now but he holds the team shape together and is vital in allowing others to break forward. Not his best game but would still my first name on the team sheet, allowing others to play. Similar to Doucoure at his best. I thought another captain's performance yesterday in filthy conditions. Comedy moment was seeing the poor man's Chris Wood, Weghorst, taking the field. Even trotting on at the beginning he looked like a physics teacher who had never played the game before making up the numbers in the school's U14 side. As he began trying to play, I imagined Dyche must have pulled a fast one on us and it was actually Matty Vydra sitting on Jack Cork's shoulders wearing an oversize Clarets shirt. Pawson certainly wouldn't have spotted anything amiss. What a prize a*** that bloke continues to be.
Poor game of football from two really ***** teams. But a points a point. Normally I'd take that from any away game in the Premier but Burnley were shocking and we still couldn't conjure up a win. It's nice to see that we tried our hardest to give Burnley the win with some superb throughball from our Tom. Anyways I witnessed what I expected. Two banks of 4 working hard but they have to cut out those constant individual errors.
Good review, thanks for that. Agree with comments about King and Sissoko. I understand why you may stick with Sissoko because he is captain and a positive influence on the team but King doesnt deserve to start with so many talented players waiting in the wings. There also seems to be some negative energy coming from him with complaints about not receiving the ball and the observation against Norwich where Pedro told him to fxck off when he complained about not passing to him. He gets given at least one chance per game put on a plate for him by a team mate and he rarely puts them away.
Regarding King, I thought after his Hat-trick against Everton we would finally see him at his best from then on. I know overall the whole team has been dire mostly all the season so far, but I have to agree that I thought he would have a few more goals by now. He starts frequently, holds the ball up but seems afraid to take the man on. We only really have Fletcher as backup, would he really do much worse?
I suppose 3 different coaches, who'd know best, have watched King v Fletcher in training and have all gone unanimously and almost exclusively for the former.
I’m not one for dodgy penalties but if that ain’t a handball I don’t know what is. Accidental or not he stopped the cross dead that was heading towards King on the edge of the 6 yard box which allowed the Burnley player to hoof it clear. First clean sheet of the season is a start, I don’t expect us to stay up but I at least want us to regain some dignity by gaining a couple more wins and clean sheets before our fate. A draw also means I don’t have to experience the emotions I endured after the Norwich defeat which was honestly the most despondent I have ever felt after a game bar maybe the Palace defeat in the FA cup semi final.
The decision to give Sema such a long contract extension at the end of 28 is up there with the Janmaat extension in terms of idiocy.
King is a strange player. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about him, but he seems to operate on the periphery of the game rather than at its heart, which is what you need from a centre-forward. That’s probably why he was pushed out wide and Dennis played in the middle. When he signed I wasn’t all that enthused from what I remembered of him at Bournemouth, except that I knew he was more of an accomplished footballer than Gray, and having watched him week after week I think I was probably right.
Perhaps he makes a very good cup of a liquid almost but not quite entirely unlike tea? We haven't had that since Molly Rush's day.
I recall an awful corner which instead of being the usual cross into the box or even short corner (which never works with us) was, bizarrely, a long low pass towards the box which led to the incident you described. But I thought it was Kiko who took it? Then there was another poor one which barely reached the near post which I’m pretty sure Cleverley took.
How will Sarr fit into that formation? Apart from the two forwards, every other player falls back to help defensively. I don't think Sarr can do that if he plays on the right wing, if all players are fit, our strongest line up will yesterday would have seen Etebo on the right wing over Kucko, Kalu on the left over Sema, Dennis for Pedro and MAYBE Sierralta for Cathcart. With that we will still be able to maintain our composure when defending, but we will more creative and threatening when attacking. Sent from my TECNO P701 using Tapatalk
