Burnley set themselves another tough mountain to climb against Tottenham Hotspur, requiring evolution rather than revolution.Burnley set themselves another impossible task against Tottenham, requiring evolution rather than revolution.
Three games, three defeats, and 11 goals surrendered isn’t the start Burnley hoped for when they wrapped up their incredible 101-point season in the Championship in May.tenham
But the most important lesson thus far has been that this isn’t the Championship. The Premier League is a totally different beast.
We all knew it, but it’s not until you see it up close and personal that you realize how wide the divide is between the two. It appears to have grown much larger since Burnley’s last visit.
It won’t have gone unnoticed that the Clarets only lost three Championship games all season, a number they’ve already matched in September.
It hasn’t helped that the Clarets have faced top-tier opposition in their opening three games, with Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Tottenham, but the Clarets haven’t helped themselves either.
There is a delicate line between daring and recklessness, and after three games, Burnley is leaning toward the latter rather than the former.
We all knew Vincent Kompany would not modify his approach: this is his strategy, and he will stick to it. If something isn’t operating as expected, the task is to improve it.
Even thus early in the new season, some will urge a major shift in strategy, largely from the outside. But, in my opinion, it has to be development rather than revolution. We’re talking about minor tweaks and modifications here, not major overhauls.
Burnley will not suddenly decamp in their own half and hurl all 11 men behind the ball. That would completely negate the one good we’ve seen so far this season, which is the creating of chances against high-quality opposition. The Clarets have posed a threat in all three games, which should not be overlooked.
However, they have been far too easy to play against and have been ripped open with startling ease. They are clearly vulnerable to the counter-attack and have yet to respond.
But it doesn’t mean it will remain that way indefinitely, and it’s Kompany’s job now, with a 16-day break until their next game against Nottingham Forest, to make those modifications to make his Burnley team a little tighter, a little more tough to play against.
Because opponents have had it far too easy thus far – anticipated goals (xG) of 2.40 (City), 2.84 (Villa), and 2.40 again (Spurs) demonstrate this.
Yes, the level of opposition has been tremendous, but you must at least make them fight for it.
The optimal starting point
At least on this occasion, it was Burnley, not the visitors, who got off to a flying start, as against both City and Villa, Kompany’s men fell behind inside the first 10 minutes.
Lyle Foster scored his second goal of the season in just four minutes, redirecting home Luca Koleosho’s pullback with a beautiful first-time finish.
It was also completely merited at the moment, because the hosts came out flying, led by the effervescent Koleosho, who caused Tottenham all sorts of difficulties all day before being pulled off late on with a minor injury.
Unfortunately, aside from Koleosho and Foster, there weren’t many more standout individual performances, and it wasn’t long until Tottenham clawed their way back into the game.
Spurs are considerably more of a front-footed club now, thanks to the charming Australian Ange Postecoglu – and no, that’s not an oxymoron – as opposed to the disastrous sit-back-and-wait-for-something-to-happen strategy of both Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Despite losing Harry Kane, they appear to have matured into a better all-around squad as a result of their relentless press and ability to play out from the back, even when under serious duress.
