Premier League Ponderings – Week 29
Burnley Unit
Several times in the last couple weeks I was asked for my top four predictions. Chelsea, City, Arsenal & United I said each time. “United? You’re just being biased.” Yeah, of course I was, but just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they ain’t following ya. And when pressed for a scapegoat for whom the rampaging reds of Merseyside could overthrow, I said: don’t discount City falling off a cliff. Ladies and gentlemen, that cliff exists and its name is Turf Moor.
City are only one point ahead of Arsenal, two ahead of United. They’re well and truly in the Rat Race now, and I’m not talkin’ ‘bout that movie with Scotty Evil and Mr Bean either. Meanwhile Burnley must be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, somewhere in the distance, as they fight towards top-flight survival.
One thing you don’t wanna do against the top teams is let them boss you around. So Burnley’s positive start was a healthy sign of things to come. They didn’t come close to scoring, or even threatening to, but Danny Ings taking a pop from thirty yards on the turn and volley, that’s a fine declaration of intent. That lad’s out of contract at the end of the season and should have no troubles finding his way onto a Stoke or a Sunderland or an Aston Villa. Best case scenario, maybe Spurs, more likely Swansea. That's assuming Liverpool have learned their lesson.
The Clarets hadn’t had a clean sheet all 2015. They’re in the midst of the toughest stretch of their draw. Yet this was a team ready for the challenge. Perhaps buoyed by their 2-goal comeback last time they met (a 2-2 draw), perhaps simply allowed to play how they wanted by a slack City side.
And damn were they slack. Not that the quality wasn’t there, just the intensity. They were off the pace, passes not quite going to feet, first touches bobbling just a little. When this team is on form, they still have these slow build-ups around the opposition penalty area, sorta like sieges, but they move the ball so swiftly and smoothly. Not the case here.
I liked the way Burnley defended. One guy would commit to a challenge, while another sat in or stepped up into his place. Playing for each other, they could be both aggressive and conservative. Part organisation, part nothing to lose. How exactly do you break that down? Get ‘em stretched and on the back foot. Beat players, draw them out of position and hit them with pace. Slow, laboured approaches just play into their hands. Which makes you wonder if it ain’t at all luck that this team has taken 4 points of the defending champs this season.
City didn’t have a proper spell in possession until around the 26th minute. That one died on the left flank. Down the sidelines it’s much easier to trap a bloke in possession. Fullback goes man for man, a midfielder cuts the inside pass, a winger the back one and the line itself does the rest. City tend to send a striker over to their wingers to help in these situations, which is a sure sign that no cross is about to come. Burnley had the aerial advantage anyway.
By the end of the first half, Man City found more emphasis. Dzeko dropped in, Silva drifted inside. It was notable that George Boyd seemed under instruction to stay inside Silva and keep him out there as much as he could. Boyd’s a heavy tackler but a good one, a handy defensive helper. Tellingly, City’s best chances came down Jesus Navas’ right.
Meanwhile it was so simple from the home side. They got the ball at their feet, they played the way they were facing. If that option wasn’t on then they’d cut and pass backwards. Clearances went deep or to the wings. No messing about. Rarely did they try to hold the ball under pressure, rarely did they take a guy on. Plus they cleverly avoided conceding fouls. Only 31% possession at the half, it didn’t even matter.
It should have been 1-0 to City in the 51st though. With men sent forward for a set piece (after a foul by Yaya Toure), City hit hard on the counter attack. A slick turn by Aguero on half way and it was two vs one. He feeds it to David Silva, but the Spaniard’s touch is awful and it skips beyond him, the keeper making the save from a favourable angle. A couple minutes later Aguero slammed one past the post himself. David Silva involved in the build up there, he had a couple of gorgeous first time passes on the edge of the box but his energy levels were low. Far too low after a ten day break.
A few minutes later George Boyd gave a teaser with a twisting volley that sailed narrowly high and wide. Not long after that he had another chance. A free kick swung in, Boyd settles on the edge of the penalty area.
Kompany heads it clear but there’s no City player in the vicinity, just a tall, long-haired winger by the name of Boyd.
This time he drills it low and hard and into the bottom corner. There’s no saving that. Your only chance is to get a block in and with that much space it’s not happening.
It was a trend all game. Burnley were winning the second balls, that's something that usually happens when you dominate in the air. The ball tends to fall where secondary guys want/expect it. Think rebounds in basketball, same deal.
Burnley’s style probably cost them a second goal. Too many times they tried to force a pass to the first attacking option as holes popped up across a desperate City defence/midfield. That’s the way they played all game. It’s limited vision but deliberately limited.
The only guy that the champs had who could muscle up up-front was Wilfried Bony. On came the lad, but his lack of recent footy was obvious. You’d need a tetanus shot before you tried to measure the rust on him, yet y’know what? He made chances. Things fell his way even if he wasn’t fresh enough to take them. He had a couple tame shots on target that he could have done far more with. Aguero could have equalised in the 81st with a header at the far post, but after drifting back into space he didn’t quite get over it.
Frank Lampard came on. His 600th EPL appearance. Only Ryan Giggs has more. This Manchester City cameo has done wonders for the guy’s reputation. There’s nothing like a victory lap to remind folks what they’re soon to be missing. Scholesy had one. Thierry Henry had one (which was more sentimental than anything). Maybe in a couple years Stevie G will get one? Don’t rule it out.
There was one last chance in injury time to level the scores. Zabaleta driving into the box on the end of a one-two pass, Ben Mee dives in (already on a yellow) and cops him. Looked a decent shout initially, and there was nothing in the replays to suggest that first reaction was wrong. It should have been a penalty but it wasn’t. Burnley win.
It’s now two wins in 11 games in which City have fallen behind. Not a team with many comebacks in them, good news for Barcelona. Every one of their Premier League losses have come with Vincent Kompany in the line-up. They had 70% possession, 21 shots but only 5 on target. Aguero with 8/1 of them. Manchester City were in a title race a few weeks back. Now they’re battling to hold on to a Champions League spot. There’s one hell of a Manchester Derby coming up in a few weeks.
Borderline Condescending Words Used By Commentators to Describe Burnley
- Honest
- Brave
- Courageous
- Enthusiastic
- Spirited
- Hard-working
- Organised
- Resilient
- Disciplined
Move Over Mayweather
Because apparently Wayne Rooney is a boxer now. I mean, he threw up the dukes against the ol’ battler Phil Bardsley, so, y’know. Next stop Fight For Life (or not). Ah, but this was a superb goal celebration, a classic in an oft-maligned art.
First off, the video. What a joke of a story. I have several burning thoughts about it, none of which pertain to any apparent danger or mischief on Rooney’s part. Look, we all like to mess around and play the fool, Wayne is clearly no exception. He wasn’t knocked out, and if he was then it hasn’t affected him yet. Rugby players get concussed all the time, it's not a good thing but it's also not a career-ender. He’s allowed to piss around under his own roof, nobody should care.
But what I wanna know is how the private vid ended up on The Sun. Looked like a low-key event, a few buds hanging out over dinner. Seems like Mr Rooney might have one less friend these days, I’d be shocked if he didn’t know who leaked this thing. Someone probably showed a few mates, they showed someone else, who saw dollar signs flash in their eyes. Given how these things work, the video's probably 2 years old anyway. You can work that out by Wazza's hairline if you wish. Credit to Rooney for handling this thing with a sense of humour and a shrug of the shoulders. Plenty of maturity from him these days, it’s good to see.
For the record, Bardsley’s wife had this to say on the subject of the phantom KO.
United though, how about it!? The best 45 minutes of their season, we finally saw something resembling a payoff from Louis Van Gaal’s mythical ‘Philosophy’. Free-flowing, positive and fast. Juan Mata starting, Mary Fellaini there but asked to use his feet not his head. Michael Carrick was the puppet master of course, his return was crucial. However there wasn’t a weak link (for once). Phil Jones started with a couple sloppy passes but then settled into a powerfully assured game. Jones is one of the last guys you wanna run at. That lad knows how to tackle, that’s for sure. And Chris Smalling has stunningly emerged into United’s most reliable defender – stunning after his red card in the Manchester Derby earlier in the season looked like it might have him on the chopping board.
Maybe it was addition by subtraction? Daley Blind and Ander Herrera settled in nicely against Spurs but Falcao was left on the bench again and Angel Di Maria suspended after his madness in the FA Cup. Without trying to fit those guys in, suddenly everything seemed more free. Falcao got a run towards the end, but even with the 3 goal lead, LVG waited until late to run the subs so he didn’t get much to do.
Liverpool’s season turned around when Brendan Rodgers was told he needed to be playing his new signings more, United’s could with the signings riding (elegantly crafted) pine. RVP too, with his injury history he’s a very old 31 years and with a World Cup meaning he’s hardly had a break since Fergie retired, he’s been off the pace most of the season. Falcao too, it must be said, missed the World Cup with a serious leg injury. Now he’s trying to bounce back in a foreign country with a new team. Turns out it's not that easy. Suddenly it’s just Rooney playing up front. Guys like Welbeck and Chicharito were offloaded due to the massive line of superstar strikers battling for playing time. In hindsight, that might have been optimistic.
Other Ponderings
Gus Poyet, better start reworking that CV, son. You don’t lose 4-0 to Villa and get away with it, especially when nobody liked you in the first place.
But Timmy Tactics, aye? Tim Sherwood, inspiring the Villans to a 4-0 win, they’d previously scored only 4 away goals all season! Sherwood’s like the anti-Pulis. Tony Pulis comes in as The Fixer, he organises and he rearranges, gets players playing simply and efficiently. Sherwood has no concept of formation, he’s one who deals in spirit and enthusiasm. Passion. He strolls in and reminds players that they have talent. That they can achieve if they set their minds to it. That their parents loved them after all. Sometimes all a footballer needs is a pat on the back, and few teams have ever needed that treatment more than the 2014/15 Aston Villa squad. From the menacing snarls of Roy Keane to the dark shadows of the relegation zone that threatened to engulf them. Tim Sherwood has a fine career ahead of him of six month jobs avoiding relegation. He’s ‘Arry with a more genuine smile.
Oh, I forgot to mention Tottenham. Yeah, they were bad. The kind of bad performance that was waiting to happen, to be honest. Harry Hotspur was silent. Kyle Walker got slaughtered by Ashley Young and Daley Blind. They just weren’t used to being pegged in so deep. Wingers didn’t get back (hence Andros Townsend was subbed off early) and there were mistakes at the back. Which is funny because forcing defensive mistakes with pressure was the main thing Pochettino had his boys working on before the game. Eric Dier’s a good young player but he got picked on for all three of the goals. Spurs were a lot better in the second half but I expect Van Gaal had told his team to kill it off.
A comfortable win for Arsenal? Five in a row in the league? Hmm.
Not sure about Chelsea these days either. They’ll cruise to the title, even a point against Southampton was a boost after City’s result. I guess you had to expect a hangover from that Champs League drama. And if they coast the rest of the way, well they’ve earned that right.
Sadly, it still looks like all three promoted teams are going down. Sad because… umm… actually nah, who cares? QPR are awful, they can take that bullet. Burnley were ready for it from the start. Leicester, they play alright but Nigel Pearson is a prick (to use one of his own words).
Hey, but a goal of the season contender from QPR’s Matty Phillips. At least they contributed something other than firing ‘Arry and Joey Barton’s card streak.
