Off the mark with a clean sheet away from home. Let’s hope this gives the squad confidence and we can kick on from here.
Ugly, ugly game, we looked low on confidence from start to finish, but that is a huuuuuge monkey off the back. And an away point in the Premier League isn’t to be sniffed at. Plus that’s another match with a settled team gelling. I thought Giannoulis really seized his chance - good choice of change from Farke. Williams is better in a back four. Aarons superb, Normann phenomenal and McLean had a much better game. Lees-Melou also did well, but as with McLean I just felt the decision making going forward wasn’t quite right. Sargent also shows he’s only young with some of those choices. Pukki cut a frustrated figure for me as whatever he tried didn’t come off - I get it’s difficult to substitute him, but I thought this was the match to bring Idah on earlier. Hanley, Gibson and Kabak can’t be faulted for a clean sheet, but they’re certainly not quite the rock solid defensive unit yet. Gibson in particular seems to struggle with intelligent movement. Our defending of corners was about 100x better though. Absolutely loved Kabak’s mazy run again, and mercifully it wasn’t followed up by giving away a penalty. All round a decent result in horribly wet weather and something to build upon. I thought Kevin Friend let the crowd and the Burnley players get to him a little as he was pretty fair in the first half, but then missed quite a few clear free kicks in the second half (the most egregious being the clear foul on Sargent which was also seemingly missed by the linesman, and could have been a second yellow). All round though a better refereeing and VARing performance than we’ve experienced.
I thought that was a cracking game for two sides lacking in confidence and ends that horrible run of defeats. An away point is a start and there were some definite improvements, especially defensively with no mistakes giving away goals and a clean sheet. We did create some good chances with the best being Normann's header over the bar. I sense that he can be a huge player on both sides of the ball and we need to build on that.
A very different game next time around probably. Brighton try to play football, which is something no one could accuse Burnley of.
Scraping a draw in the last minute at home to Morecambe and defeat at Accrington Stanley. Rather puts our just losing out to Arsenal and Leicester in context, doesn't it?
Well, I've survived for one game. And I have a good feeling about the Brighton game actually. We'll see. EDIT: And exactly the type of streetwise performance we wouldn't have managed two seasons ago.
Might be a bit defeatist but I’m happy with a point away at Burnley. This is eaxactly the type of game that we were bullied out of last time around. Good to stop the losing streak although now they will just say 17 games without a win. Time to build on this, Brighton is a very different type of game and no doubt a tough one after their good start to the season, but they actually play football which I hope is more suited to Farkes game plans.
Great to get on the board at last! Would like to see something like: Krul Kabak Hanley O'dele Aarons Normann Mclean Giannoulis Rachica Tzolis Sargent Just to add a bit more attacking ability on the pitch. Can't complain with a clean sheet though. Even if it was vs Burnley!
7 games without a win Still not cast adrift but we need to score , 3 goals in 17 tells it's own story. I want us to survive so we keep Kabak & Normann both class additions to our team
Well done Gozo! Totally agree about the streetwise performance and we also saw a willingness to battle for every ball which gives some hope for the rest of the season. Here's the WhoScored ratings which we just edged:
Paddy Davitt's take on the game, full of praise for the defence, Giannoulis and Normann: https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwi...avitt-premier-league-pointers-burnley-8381276