Dave's Take on Saturday's Debacle.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Dave’s had time to consider the debacle at Turf Moor on Saturday, he’s a lot more magnanimous than me is our Mr Thornley.

Whilst never being one to lend any credence to superstition, fallacies, or old wives’ tales; Burnley’s start to the Premier League season has led me to consider that there may be some truth in the saying “Bad luck comes in threes”.

Three matches, three defeats, and a transfer window concluded without the acquisition of a proper number three.

Despite Burnley splashing the cash around like a ****ager with trust fund, the eleventh hour failure to recruit Ian Maatsen was brought sharply into focus during Saturday afternoon’s mauling at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor.

A makeshift defensive structure involved Conor Roberts switching to the left-hand side and Ameen Al-Dakhil manning the right. Neither looked comfortable, nor did Dara O’Shea and a less than fully fit Jordan Bayer in the centre.

Playing out from the back has become a staple tactic for Burnley under Vincent Kompany; it can work well, but on Saturday it was too often frantic, ill-conceived, and inaccurate, leading to either a hurried clearance or getting caught in possession. Sometimes the best option is just to clear your lines.

Never one to spurn the chance to seize on such perceived weakness, Son Heung-Min, a gifted striker and often a thorn in the side for Burnley, helped himself to a hat-trick – there’s that three again.

To begin with things looked much more promising; Burnley pressed and harried the visitors and took a deserved early lead when Luca Koleosho’s weaving run and cross enabled Lyle Foster to tuck the ball into the corner of the Spurs goal and give the Clarets an early lead.

But it didn’t last. Spurs equalised with a simple ball into the space vacated by Burnley’s advanced defensive line. A two against two situation developed, allowing Son to cleverly chip the ball past James Trafford at the far post.

By the end of a first half that was never less than absorbing, Spurs had gone 2-1 up thanks to a speculative long-range effort from Romero, a body blow and one from which Burnley would not recover.

Three more goals were added by Spurs as Burnley fell apart in the second half. It was a chastening experience, one which proved too onerous for a significant portion of the home supporters who could take no more after Spurs’ fifth goal and retreated to their homes.

They missed Josh Brownhill’s late consolation goal; the midfielder’s performance once introduced in the second half was a rare bright spot and surely enough to emphasise that he is quite simply a better footballer than Sander Berge and should accordingly be selected in preference to him.

Whist never a fan of the September International break, this one comes at an opportune time for Burnley, offering as it does some time to put in the required hard and meaningful work on the training pitch to bring the squad closer to the standards set by their three opponents thus far.

I always like to end these pieces on a positive note; the screens for ordering refreshments in the Jimmy McIlroy stand seemed to be working better than in previous matches – so that’s something.

Hot pies or not we need to start welding youth and experience together otherwise we are in for a long season. One bright non-pie event for me was watching Luca Koleosho rip through the Spurs defence. We have a real talent on our hands here. (TEC.)

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[Supersub6]

Foster's goal was also our third in competitive football this season ---just to carry on the three feeling

[Swissclaret]

Spot on about Josh Brownhill. He should be starting every game. To be honest, I think Cork is a better player than Berge. Both he and Josh brought some fight and grit to midfield.

Sadly, Cullen seems out of his depth at this level. Both he and Berge were anonymous, unable to disrupt Spurs midfield.

The defence needs an experienced, calming influence - namely Charlie Taylor. A good, solid defender who has proved himself at this level. Youth, yes but balanced with some men who can hold their own.

VK also needs to remind Beyer (as good as he is) that is not Beckenbauer and to be careful when he wants to run forward into midfield. At least twice now he has done that, lost the ball and left the defence exposed. I would suggest to him that he passes the ball to Cork and let Jack distribute it.

[kritichris]

It took VK a few games to get it right in the Championship but obviously having a stronger side at that level we weren;t punished for our shortcomings. In the PL there is no margin for error and we have been slammed 3 times due to our defensive ineptitude which is ironic given how godd a defender VK was. however, I think VK learns quickly and will adapt and will mould us into the team he wants, we won't win the PL but I don't think we will get relegated and then we can sell our new batch of stars to start afresh next season.

[barrie_burn]

It took VK a few games to get it right in the Championship but obviously having a stronger side at that level we weren;t punished for our shortcomings. In the PL there is no margin for error and we have been slammed 3 times due to our defensive ineptitude which is ironic given how godd a defender VK was. however, I think VK learns quickly and will adapt and will mould us into the team he wants, we won't win the PL but I don't think we will get relegated and then we can sell our new batch of stars to start afresh next season.

Well said and I totally agree.