Up top with Rodriguez, against Brighton. Vydra & Barnes on the bench.
Burnley with a very very settled look to their lineup. Are they aging too much, I guess will be the key their season, plus getting a good start for a change.
Subbed at 75 mins (for J-Rod) as Clarets go down 2-0 at Anfield, after winning there last season (sans fans). Interesting that Dyche kept Barnes on for full 90 mins.
Burnley could be in big trouble. A highly leveraged private equity deal has left the club with large debt, and no signs of any real investment from the new owners. The club is paying off the debt from the takeover with its cash flow. It has disaster written all over it, especially if they get relegated this season.
First team to line-up with shirt numbers 1-11 all in the starting team since Charlton Athletic did so in the second week of the 1998-99 season. And in a 4-4-2 formation, no less. The old dogs will be frothing. Game’s not gone after all.
Not that you’d get that line out of Jurgen Klopp, who wasn’t too happy with the habits of Wood and Barnes in his postgame interview...
Jurgen Klopp: “We always had to be ready for a proper fight. We were today in a really difficult game, because you saw these challenges with Barnes and Wood on Virgil and Joel. I’m not 100 per cent sure if we are really going in the right direction with these kind of decisions. It feels like we go back 10, 15 years back to when we said ‘oh, that was the football we wanted to see’. It’s just too dangerous. The message now is let the game flow, but nobody exactly knows what that means. I like decisions that favour the offensive team, that’s fine. But we have to stick to protecting the players. We cannot deny that. If you like that sort of thing, watch wrestling.”
Bit of an odd one after a game in which there wasn’t a single yellow card handed out. In fact Burnley just broke the record for the most PL games in a row without a red card with this game, 97 and counting beating the previous mark set by Ipswich in the late-90s. There were a couple disallowed goals in the match but rightly so. No controversial moments, nothing violent. Sean Dyche’s response was one of gentle bafflement, though he did say it was poor form from Klopp to single out Barnes & Wood by name like that.
Up Next: EFL Cup second round vs Newcastle away on Thursday at 6.45am and then it’s Leeds at home in the PL on Monday at 1am (NZT)
The fact that there weren’t any yellow cards handed out is exactly what Klopp took issue with though. To be fair his bigger gripe was less at Wood specifically and more with the refs who were deliberately letting stuff go under their new directive to improve the flow of play a bit more. I took his comments as ‘well obviously that’s how the game is going to go if the refs aren’t calling fouls anymore’ rather than a huge dig at the individuals.
Burnley beat Newcastle on pens 4-3 (score 0-0 after NT), in the League Cup. Full game Wood, who as seems custom now took the first pen and converted it.
Really surprised there weren’t more transfer rumors around him. Four consecutive seasons of ten plus goals isn’t exactly an abundant quality in the league.
From this week's Flying Kiwis. New signing should be easy to spot on the pitch when watching Burnley.
Burnley have completed the signing of Ivorian international winger Max Cornet however so there’s a bit of excitement about him, especially from a striker like Wood hoping to dine out on the service. There’s only a day left in the transfer window so things will move fast and elements of this article could go out of date quickly... there’ll be a Flying Kiwis Transfer Season Roundup in a day or two to cover all that. This bad boy’s all about the games.
Up Next: Off ‘til Tuesday 14 September when they’re away to Everton at 7am (NZT)
Didn't have the greatest of games. Pretty quiet but missed a header (literally missed the ball) with an almost open goal in the first half, and for one of Evertons goals he was back in defence and lost the guy he was marking. Also was ruled offside when one of his teammates thought he had scored...
Olympics semifinal rematch with Wood upfront and Tomiyasu playing for Arsenal.
Olympic quarter final, but otherwise yes.
Heh enthusiasm. Unfortunately, despite Saka looking a shade of his previous lively self (though he did win the foul leading to the goal) Arsenal have come into the game and been the better team. Tomiyasu had a nice dribble and drive forward into open space there leading to a period of attack. Burnley had some good moments early on and are looking for the ball in the air to Barnes and Wood in the box. No chances for the Woodsman yet, Barnes a couple of half looks and a yellow card and McNeil also not quite satisfied with his game. The game’s not over, but with Arsenal growing in confidence and a goal to the good already things are definitely in their favour. Burnley need some luck or inspiration to get back in it.
Finishes with the same half time score 1-0 to Arsenal. Arsenal were poor and Burnley was able to put a lot of pressure on them in the second half, but despite all the strikers getting some half chances, they really didn’t fashion a clear cut opportunity that their pressure might have warranted. Wood subbed at 81st minute mark.
A peno given and then rightly chalked off as the keeper had got a faint touch to the ball added to the home fans frustration.
Burnley with a 4-1 win over League Two Rochdale at Turf Moor in the League Cup. J-Rod with all 4 goals for the Clarets! He started up top with Vydra.
Woodsman subbed on at 77 mins, straight after Rodriguez scored his 4th.
It will be interesting who Burnley start vs Leicester on Sat (early Sun NZT). J-Rod and Wood don't compliment each other that well but after scoring 4 it's hard to not but J-Rod in the first team.. and Wood hasn't been in good form this season.
I'm thinking J-Rod and Wood (Barnes hasn't been doing well lately) this weekend, but Vydra/J-Rod has to be a possibility too if Wood goes a few more games without scoring.
Also worth noting, despite the score card it wasn't an easy win for Burnley, they were actually down 1-0 a few mins into the second half until J-Rod scored a hattrick in the space of 15 mins or so (and his 4th later on),
Starting to get some angst on the Burnley forums for lack of goals this year. Personally I thought he had a good first half, winning a ton of headers and holding the ball up when isolated. Second half not so good but I think that was tiredness after playing as the sole attacker first half plus returning from All Whites. He's been a bit unlucky too, a few 50/50 pen shouts this season he/Burnley haven't got.. A close offside goal ruled out last week, this week was through one on one and ref blew his whistle for a foul when a teammate was taken out instead of playing advantage.
Burnley having a bit of a torrid time and he hasn’t really got himself underway either. Have to be honest, while the other players seem to have got a form bump from the Olympics and recent games, not really sure he has. They still seem to be creating chances against all opponents so maybe they’ll hit a run of form soon. Both Barnes and Vydra had similar frustrations, injuries and off side goals so I don’t think he’s to blame at all.
Didn't they have a slow start last season which turned itself around eventually?
The last few I think. I think they will avoid relegation this season. They have had some tough games so far and against the teams they are more expected to get points against have been unlucky. They look a lot better with new signing Maxwel Cornet on the field too, adds some pace.