Burnley 1-0 Watford Fc - 25/06/2020

Discussion in 'Match Day' started by Smudger, Jun 21, 2020.

  1. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Yeah it’s so odd. So many see it like some binary choice between Vydra and the strikers we have now.

    There are other better options than either.
     
  2. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    I've complained about this before, so it's no surprise, but there were several points that stood out last night to demonstrate just how lazy and stupid our players' approach often is, and also how we will never progress without genuine investment in our centre backs, because the ones we have at the moment are nowhere near good enough in an all-round sense. Both of these incidents took place in injury time, post-90 minutes, when we should supposedly be desperately chasing at least an equaliser, fashioning as many opportunities as we can.

    (These are photos because I tried every possible way to embed/upload the clips I made, but the wonderful functionality of this site meant none of them worked ‍♂️)

    Exhibit A:

    The ball is in the air heading towards Burnley's box; Ben Mee is perfectly placed and heads it clear, back into the midfield. It then loops high in an arc, down towards our midfield maestro and ball-player extraordinaire, Etienne Capoue.

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.52.10.png

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.52.20.png

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.52.36.png

    So, standing in some space, poised to receive the ball with several yellow shirts around him, he's going to bring it down and launch an attack by playing a clever pass or through ball, right?

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.53.06.png

    Oh, wait, no. He's just going to bounce a thoughtless header aimlessly forward.

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.53.18.png
    The result of that header being that, before (as we can see from his body shape here) he's even recovered from the effort of making it, the ball has gone straight to a Burnley player's feet, and been gratefully received, killing any attack we might have been planning and losing the possession we had just been handed.


    Exhibit B:

    Just over a minute later, and still down a goal. After some ping pong in a crowded midfield, a Burnley player does what Burnley do best: hoofs it clear as far as they possibly can.

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.54.08.png

    As we can see from the clock, the ball actually spends 3 full seconds in the air, eventually coming down to a Craig Cathcart under no pressure, with one Burnley player within ten yards of him (whose body is shaped directly away from our brave centre back).

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.54.33.png

    Having had such a long time to think, he knows exactly what he's going to do, right? He's shaping to bring it down onto his chest, with all the time in the world, and launch a fresh attack; ready to set Sarr off up the right wing, or play through midfield and work an opportunity that way instead.

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.54.59.png

    Oh no, wait. Scratch that. He's going to bounce a thoughtless, aimless, slow header straight back the way it came, into the crowded scrum of Burnley orcs massed in the centre of the pitch.

    Screenshot 2020-06-26 at 14.55.47.png

    The inevitable result, of course, being that, with less than two minutes to go, the ball falls harmlessly down back towards the head of a Burnley midfielder, for another round of pointless midfield ping-pong.


    Both of these are the rankest examples of cowardly, irresponsible play, and a horrifying indictment of the mentality and desire of our players. The worst part is that this is hardly rare pressure getting to them, or even a consequence of the circumstances of resumption. We can all think of a million times this has happened; there are other examples from this very game, and basically every match we're not winning devolves into this, if we stretch our minds back. It's a failing in every department: technical skill, mentality, vision, leadership, and coaching/management.

    The fact that they still feel happy to make these decisions should be of enormous concern, because the coaching staff should be coaching or shouting or beasting it out of them; it's literally their job. I think it speaks particularly poorly to Pearson's capabilities, given the fact that his motivation is supposed to be his main calling card; he certainly isn't a tactical manager, one who is brilliant at countering the opposition in the set-up of his own team, or one for expertly changing the flow of a game through substitutions.

    This is the physical embodiment of the recruitment one-two punch of swathes of players lacking in requisite skill and with an abundance of extremely poor, mercurial attitudes. It's disgusting to observe.
     
  3. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Black lives matter is an organisation, a movement and a slogan. The premier league is supporting the slogan and the movement rather than the specific BLM organisation. There are plenty of people who support BLM without supporting the dismantling of capitalism for example. The key issue is fighting racism. The black lives matter organisation, movement and slogan have achieved a lot in that respect and hopefully they will achieve much more in the future. I'm not gonna sit around until
    the perfect anti racism organisation lands on my lap. I find racism sickening and strongly support the black lives matter movement.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2020
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  4. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet


    Genuinely started clapping at the end of this post.

    Well played, sir.
     
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  5. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    There is a further argument that Arsenal and Man Utd would never have signed and played Welbeck if he was always as limited as he looks now.

    I cant say I saw a lot of him before we signed him, because I hate football and don't watch other teams, but I can't see Deeney getting his goals ratio up at a top 6 club because there is no way they'd ever sign a striker who never makes a run to lose his defender.
     
  6. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    It's just a conversation to be had, because it's topical.

    We just played a side who have similar financial resources, yet their 3rd or 4th choice striker gave us problems. Ok, didn't score. He also uses to play for us and was highly thought of here.

    I don't think anyone believes that we could build a premier league side around Matej, but as a 3rs choice striker, does he offer more than, say ,Gray?

    He was here, we sold him and what have we done since with our recruitment?

    We are still dependant on an ever present donkey signed from Walsall before Pozzo.

    They've failed to find even a functioning striker.

    Of the two Burnley players, I'd take Rodriguez in a heartbeat. He looked exactly what we would need as an upgrade on Deeney. A player only getting into their side due to injury to their 2 first choice players, but he would be head and shoulders our best forward based on that game.
     
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  7. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    He was here, he left and he has done nothing of note since other than become a backup striker for mid table premier league club.

    Both Deeney and Grey have better championship and PL scoring records than him.

    Grey was a mistake, but it’s not like Vydra was the answer instead. There is zero evidence over the last five years to suggest Vydra would’ve done any better than Grey or Deeney.

    I just think it’s quite bizarre that out owners get so much grief for their recruitment, yet many of those same fans can’t see past a striker we sold five years ago as seemingly the only viable alternative we’ve ever had.
     
  8. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    I just said he's not the only viable alternative.

    I have also seen Vydra and Gray both play for my team. I know what I've seen. I don't need to look at stats on Wikipedia to decide whether or not I think he is significantly better than Andre Gray.

    But it's a side issue. We have needed a starting striker, better than Deeney, since Ighalo's purple patch ended and we haven't got close.

    Keeping Vydra and not signing Gray would have been better, but that ship has sailed, you are right. There would be no point in revisiting him unless we found a buyer for Dre that would recoup some of our outlay and that Matty could be acquired for a low fee.

    It's just natural that people will make a comparison. It doesn't mean we think he should be bought and made our first choice striker.
     
  9. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I seem to remember when Vydra was loaned to Reading it was seen as a master stroke, didn’t they have to pay us £10m if they got promoted? As it was he scored 3 goals in 31 appearances for them, and then only 26 in 73 for Derby.

    I’d agree he’s a better player than Grey albeit with an inferior scoring record which is ultimately what we need either for.

    Grey was just a very weird signing though, totally against our normal ethos, paying top dollar for a player at the peak of their value, when do we ever do that? On paper it wasn’t the worst buy, but it’s turned out to be a disaster when you compare pound for pound what £18m has got us elsewhere in the squad. The bargain bin squad filler punts tend to frustrate us, but when the owners spend north of £10m we tend to get a very good player.
     
  10. King Dev

    King Dev Squad Player

    Never said he was the Messiah, miles better than deeney though
     
  11. FromDiv4

    FromDiv4 Reservist

    In our memories from when he played for us yes, currently I am not sure. Ideally we would have someone better than either of them.
     
  12. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Lapedo Child: A Neanderthal, modern human hybrid?
    14 March 2023
    In 1998, the skeleton of a 29,000-year-old child was discovered in the Lapedo valley in Portugal. The child had early modern human and Neanderthal features such as the chin and lower arms of a modern human but the jaw and build of a Neanderthal. Researchers believe that the child's anatomy was the result of a mixed Neandertal-early modern human ancestry.

    https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0f8khzt/lapedo-child-a-neanderthal-modern-human-hybrid-
     
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  13. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    We can still catch Villa.
     
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