Dave's take on the Watford win...
Dave Thornley gets his chat on with his review from Vicarage Road. Following last week’s piece covering Burnley’s victories over Southampton and Wolves, a reader commented that under Mike Jackson, Burnley are playing with greater attacking intent and freedom of expression. I paraphrase, but you get the gist.
Whilst that is undeniably an accurate assessment (and I am grateful to any and all who take the time to read these weekly musing and pass comment upon them, good or bad) I think that there is another factor at play in the Clarets’ revival since the departure of Sean Dyche; namely that for the players it must have been akin to being awoken from their slumber by means of a bucket of cold water; a jolt, a shock to the system, a kick up the backside. Call it what you will.
This has clearly had as much of a galvanising effect than any of the tactical tweaks or changes in emphasis that Jackson and Ben Mee have installed since they were charged with running the team.
The latest manifestation of this came in yesterday’s 2-1 victory over Watford; a club whose players have surely become so immune to the sight of a different car in the manager’s parking spot when they arrive at the training ground, that it no longer causes a ripple of surprise, let alone a shock to their collective being.
Yesterday’s performance and the three points it yielded was the clearest example yet of the unifying forces at work in creating the Burnley revival.
In far too many previous matches, most recently in the defeat at Norwich, Burnley’s attempts at overturning an early deficit have been half-hearted and lacklustre. Yesterday the Clarets began the game poorly, fell a goal behind (an unfortunate own goal after the ball rebounded off the crossbar and struck James Tarkowski on the knee) and struggled to establish a foothold in the game.
But as the game progressed into the second half, Burnley asserted themselves with greater conviction; they began to construct a consistent threat down each wing; they tested the Watford defence by pressing hard in midfield, making probing forward runs and taking on shots at goal whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Wout Weghorst looked a frustrated and unhappy man when he was withdrawn for Ashley Barnes after an hour. Good, I like to see players express disappointment when being subbed off, it shows that they set themselves standards and value their own performance, it also gives them a point to prove to the manager next time out.
The change however was both astute and timely; Barnes, the agent provocateur, the disrupter-in-chief, the king of stoppage time corner flagging was precisely what Burnley needed at that stage of the game. He almost scored, when his header drew a brilliant reaction save out of Watford’s Ben Foster and his presence occupied the home defenders to an extent with which they were clearly uncomfortable.
As the game drew towards its conclusion Burnley remained on the front foot and were rewarded first after eighty-three minutes, when Jack Cork flung himself at Charlie Taylor’s deep cross and headed it into the net for the equaliser.
At 1-1 Burnley were not yet done; three minutes later a free kick was only half-cleared, Josh Brownhill received the ball just inside the Watford penalty area and calmly slotted a low shot into the corner of the Watford goal.
The three points pulled Burney five points clear of the bottom three, mathematically relegated Norwich City and to all intents and purposes did the same to Watford; whose current manager, Roy Hodgson, was curiously inanimate throughout and in his sunglasses looked for all the world like the eponymous protagonist of “Weekend at Bernies”. Perhaps he has given up any notion that his team can remain in the Premier League?
Fortunately, Burnley have not and although far from being secure, much of the pressure the Clarets were under has now been transferred to Everton and Leeds.
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