Anybody can lose 4-1 to Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s men can beat anybody when they’re on top of their game and they certainly were on Tuesday night. Two stunning Gabriel Jesus goals were followed by a howitzer from Rodrigo Hernandez and a well-taken finish by Riyad Mahrez. Class settled the narrative. But certain fans weren’t happy with the lack of pressing and bite in Burnley’s performance. This was a City team that had just stumbled to a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United. This drop in performance level has happened before and will continue to happen to Sean Dyche’s team but it is not necessarily something to be feared.

Fighting back

Burnley are not set up to fight back in a game. Ideally, they want their opponents to take the game to them, which will open up their the defensive back-line of the other team. This will give more space to the likes of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes who thrive on direct balls. If they fall behind, the other team can drop deeper and pass over the initiative to Burnley. This means that their direct approach may not be as effective because the opposition team is in a more defensive structure and is more prepared for the routine nature of Burnley’s attacking. This forces the Clarets to mix up their play and that is not what they do best. Their best moments come from sitting in a rigid shape, protecting a lead and breaking in behind.

Burnley have fought back to salvage points this season. They got points away at Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion having been initially behind. However, they have not won a game in which they have fallen behind this season and this is a trend that has been prevalent throughout Dyche’s reign in the Premier League. A rare anomaly was last season when Burnley began their great turnaround in form. After a terrible slump, the Clarets battled back against Huddersfield and Fulham, winning two games back-to-back in which they had initially fallen behind. They then extended their unbeaten run with a fightback against Southampton in February. This was against the grain but was no doubt part of a desperate battle against the adversity that they found themselves in.

Why the effort drops

This apparent lack of effort seems to stem from a lack of belief. When the going gets tough, these players can step-in and make themselves counted. They can give that extra twenty percent. But you get the feeling it is a real slog. Again, Dyche is a structural manager as opposed to someone who wants his team to attack in a free-flowing way. Scoring is not easy when the other team are in the ascendancy. So when City went a goal up, the players probably lost a lot of desire. It is hard enough for them to mount a comeback against the smaller teams so to do it against the Champions was probably a bridge too far mentally. This would explain the apparent drop in effort and enthusiasm which stemmed from psychological barriers as much as they did physical barriers.

Silver Lining

The point is that the style of Burnley does work. It works because it generates enough points to survive. If Burnley take the lead in a match against a non-top-seven (top-six and Leicester) team then you would be wise to back them, particularly if the game is at Turf Moor. They are a tough nut to crack when they know that something is genuinely on the line. Unfortunately, some games will be thrown because the players seem to have an early mental recognition as to when a match is out of reach. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have all demonstrated that mindset collapse.

This collapse can be frustrating for fans but it comes from an arrogance. It’s a good kind of arrogance really. The players believe they can pick up points when they really need them but will not exert energy when they don’t feel it is neccessary. Some fans would argue that the players should be giving their absolute all in every single match but it may be hard to run that extra yard in when the season’s objective is simply to beat the drop.

VAVEL Logo
About the author