Burnley 2 - West Bromwich Albion 2

Date: Sunday 8th February 2015 
Competition: Barclays Premier League
Burnley:
6.1
WBA:
5.0
Foster 6.6, Dawson 4.9, McAuley 5.0, Lescott 6.0, Baird 4.2 (Ideye, 46 6.6), McManaman 5.1 (Morrison, 81 5.7), Fletcher 5.3, Yacob 5.8, Brunt 5.4, Sessegnon 5.0, Anichebe 3.0 (Berahino, 18 5.8)
Unused subs: Rose, Wisdom, Gardner, Pocognoli
Manager: Tony Pulis 5.0
Scorers: Brunt (45), Ideye (68)
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) 5.0
Attendance: 16,904   Home Fans 5.2   Away Fans 6.2

oshawabaggie:

Where do you start? If it wasn't for Burnley's inability to defend corners we would have suffered the defeat that performance deserved. The words of West Bromwich native, Robert Plant's, 'Dazed and Confused' came to mind as the first half shambles unwound. How the f@@@ can you come out against a team like Burnley and give them total freedom of the pitch up to your area? There was no combat in midfield and it was only a matter of time before they scored. What was Pulis thinking?? It wasn't even as if we defended stoutly around our on area. There were holes all over the place. As others have mentioned before on this site, what the hell has Pocognoli, or Gamboa for that matter, done to not even get on the bench. Surely natural fullbacks are better than the options Pulis has come up with so far. Ridgewell is starting to look like a world beater in comparison.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the lack of compete from many players and signs that some might already be starting to tune Pulis out. If this is what we can expect for the rest of the season, we are in deep trouble.

Mark Koppel:

Our problems at full back, which have been going on for a number of seasons now, continue. This week at left back rather than right back. That area looked better without Wisdom. Paradoxically the defence looked better overall when Pulis reorganised it with Brunt at left wing back in the second half.

To be fair to Pulis he knows this is a problem area for us thus why he dropped Wisdom and tried to buy a full back in the window. If we do manage to stay up, which is not a certainty, I'm confident already that Pulis knows exactly what players in what areas need to be recruited.

Player ratings today:

  • Foster 7 - World class save at 0-0 that in the end turned out to be crucial. With one exception kicking was better today.
  • Baird 5 - Also not the answer to our left back problems.
  • McAuley 5 - He needs to stop him lumping it which without fail today went to Burnley players. Midfield needs to come short for him every time.
  • Lescott 6 - Got under the ball for both Burnley goals but improved second half and played with passion.
  • Dawson 6 - Looked a better option at Right Back than Wisdom, although that is not saying much.
  • Yacob 8 - Very tidy, did all the basics without fault. Most improved player under Pulis.
  • Brunt 6 - Went from Villain to Hero (nearly). Stood still for Burnley's second goal with his hand in the air. Criminal mistake that someone like Pulis could have subbed him for immediately. Then scored and got an assist. I also think he did ok at left back/wing back.
  • Sick Vic 2 - Continues to be Sick Vic, this time after 16mins which led to Saido coming on who is a far better player anyway.
  • Mac 5 - Looked quite energetic to start with but not hurting defences yet.
  • Fletcher 5 - Not sure he is fit as struggled to get near the ball, especially second half.
  • Sess 4 - Again flapped about without much impact. Tried 2 "shots" in the first half. More commonly known as "Back Passes"!

Subs:

  • Brown 'No' Ideye 7 - OMG played like a man possessed. Nearly sold in the window but looked determined today to prove us wrong. Great to see him shove off his marker before a great header for the equaliser.
  • Saido 6 - Little bit quiet today but still believe he is our best chance of staying up this year.
  • Morrison 7 - Not on for long but superb cross to Saido that nearly led to the winner.

Bobby Hope:

Well let me start with the positive - we came back from two down. That's it!

What a load of rubbish. The worst display of football I have seen in a very long time. No control of the ball, so many misplaced passes, hoof ball, bad defending, no shape - a terrible performance. I can't honestly pick anyone out as having a good game! What Baird was doing I have no idea, Brunt didn't help. How TP can leave out Morrison, Gardner, Poco and I would even welcome Wisdom back!!! No one can tell me that Dorrans would not have performed better than anyone in midfield today. I'm just astonished to be quite frank. It was that bad. And I'm surprised we didn't get anyone sent off and McAuley got away with a hand ball penalty. No one put their foot on the ball and I cannot remember ONE yes even ONE good move.

Oh one last positive - they cannot ever play that badly again... can they????

Paul Gainham:

Let’s face it, we have been playing poor football now ever since we lost 3-1 away against Swansea early into Clarke’s first season. Yes the occasional high spot but on the whole it’s been dross.

So witnessing what was possibly the worst 1H of football in the time since that defeat tells you that Pulis has still got his work cut out. We were utterly abject, no tempo, no discernable pattern of play and players out of position. Going 2-0 down in that half came as no surprise, Burnley also hit the bar and had a couple of other dangerous opportunities. To be honest if we had gone in 4-0 down we could not have complained. Our defence were utterly clueless. Both goals came from comical defending and clearly Pulis has to get it into his head that neither Baird, Lescott or Dawson are full backs. Pocognoli is and god forbid even Wisdom is better than Dawson in that position.

My main concern about the 1H was how ‘un-Pulis’ we looked – there was no game plan, I could not decipher what he had set us up to do and I can only believe by the apoplectic rage Pulis was in for most of the half, the players simply did not listen to him. Dyche quickly figured out we had a right back who wasn’t and a defence who can’t play football so he simply got Ings, Barnes and Boyd to push a high line and wait for us to give them the ball back which we duly obliged with.

Yet out of the abyss we clawed back a crucial goal just on HT.

Second half two things happened. They took their foot off the gas a little to begin with and we played with much greater tempo and pushed a much higher line. Gone was the big 1H sit back. Key to this was taking Baird off and pushing Brunt back to LB and bringing Ideye on.

I am going to say something now that may alarm people. Ideye actually looked like a footballer! Shock, horror. He scored a really well taken goal and in fairness he hassled their defence as much as he could, if only Berahino had the same work ethic.

In the end we could have won it, Mee stopping a Berahino shot on the line – have not seen yet whether it hit his chest or arm but anyway we missed that opportunity.

We are paying the price here for the last 2-3 years of crap, an utterly p*** poor scouting set up and an inability to act quickly in getting rid of poor coaches like Irvine.

Oh and for those of you criticizing Pulis, under Irivine we WOULD have lost this game probably 3 or 4-0. Today was not pretty at all but the grit to pull back when under the cosh was.

Lesson learned from this game? The season is going to the wire again. With what we have, Pulis will be really hard pushed, particularly with the run-in we have. He was clearly bitterly disappointed with our transfer dealings and I still believe he could walk before the season is over. On balance, unfortunately, relegation is more likely than survival.

Player Marks

  • Foster 6 Can’t really be faulted for either goal, kicking woeful at times again
  • Dawson 4 Not a fan, he started the season playing well at CB but is NOT a RB, often exposed today, failed to stop Ings setting up their first goal.
  • McCauley 4 Really poor today, particularly in the 1H, Ings and Barnes gave him the run around.
  • Lescott 4 Ditto McCauley
  • Baird 4 Said he would get found out at LB and today he was, Boyd ran him ragged
  • Fletcher 4 Even I could look good surrounded by great Man U players. Without that, what are you left with? Ronnie Wallwork Mk 2
  • Brunt 4 Scored the first goal, other than that, really poor
  • Yacob 4 Way too slow yet again, looked like he was still having a Sunday lie-in
  • McManaman 6 Looked our most effective player 1H, put some good balls in. 2H he was moved to the left and was way less effective.
  • Sessegnon 5 Fizzed a round a lot, more effective in 2H but again final product let him down.
  • Anichebe 2 Ambled around, did nothing, decided it was too cold and came off ‘injured’ after 15 mins

Subs

  • Berahino 3 Billy big knob showed little work ethic and his overall game was really poor. A challenger to Harry Kane? Get real.
  • Ideye 6 Scored a goal, showed a real work ethic up front and kept berating Berahino to do likewise. Still not good enough so let’s just enjoy this one.
  • Morrison 5 Came on late in 2H, not much time to do anything
  • Coach 5 1H was as abject as anything I have seen and he has to take responsibility for that albeit he was screaming at the team to change. Not at all sure what the game plan was today.

Brendan Clegg:

Having read the other posts so far it seems that everyone is pretty much in agreement apart from minor bits and pieces. It really was as bad as everyone says.

Some points I'd like to make and most of them revolve around Pulis who I maintain is overplaying how bad we are and the squad he inherited is, is guilty of awful pig-headed decisions that are making us weaker and as other have pointed out whose tactics are questionable and not seemingly aligned to the players he selects.

Berahino has to start for us the same reason that Ings has to start for Burnley in similar circumstances. Unfortunately we are not good enough to make any points with him.

Pocognoli is better than any other left back we have and than we had last year. If you are not going to play him why is he even on the bench?

Dawson is not good enough at centre back or right back. At right back you have to be comfortable on the ball. He isn't at all. Wisdom is inconsistent but I think has real promise even playing out of position. He genuinely has had some great games for us this year as well as some stinkers. He keeps going no matter what too.

I maintain our full backs being wrong footed and/or out of position is why we are so crap at breaking and why Sess and McManaman cannot get into games for any period. The service to them is awful. They can only go backwards, inside or hoof it. Our defenders are under instruction to launch it. Our midfielders run up the pitch as soon as anyone behind them gets the ball and Fletcher confirmed this in his post match interview.

Fletcher over Morrison weakens us. Morrison is our only centre midfielder with genuine pace who can carry the ball up the pitch. How we missed him in the middle today. I have great respect for Fletcher coming back from what he's suffered and with a run of games he might get better but he was miles off it today - and what does referencing what a great pro he is, how he trains and what his character is like serve? Don't tell me Morrison, Gardner or Dorrans are any different? Ability and effectiveness are what matter. Dorrans ran the game when we beat them 4-0 at our place.

Mulumbu is coming back - hopefully Pulis is a fan and finds a place for him alongside/instead of Yacob.

It's all well and good Pulis saying we started slowly like against Spurs. In both games our starting lineup, formation and tactics were poor. Take some responsibility for your own decisions. We looked leggy today because a back four of Baird, Lescott, Dawson and McAuley with Brunt, Fletcher and Yacob in front of them and big Vic up front IS leggy. A centipede doing the can-can couldn't be more leggy. Good grief.

I was firmly in the Irvine must go camp but we have been worse. And people saying Irvine would have lost this? On what basis? We hammered Burnley 4-0 under Irvine by dominating possession and playing to our strengths. We beat Spurs 1-0 away under Irvine with a 5 man midfield to frustrate them and nicking a goal. Although we beat Hull I think Irvine's Albion would have too. The only game I think Pulis got something where Irvine wouldn't have was Everton and even then you never know.

We were in trouble under Irvine but we were not a million miles away. He'd almost found his best team and a penalty at Hull going in, basic defending against QPR having been 2 goals up and the draw at West Ham proves this. Instead of tightening us up Pulis has completely changed the way we play and the starting 11 every game. The point I am making is he should not be immune to criticism or absolved of any blame.

If we play like this with the same fullbacks againt Swansea we'll get comfortably beaten by them - again.

  • Foster - 7 Kept us in it.
  • Dawson - 6 Defensively did OK. Horror show on the ball.
  • McAuley - 5 Looked uncomfortable all game. Cant help having a changing back 4 every week. Lucky with pen.
  • Lescott - 6 Started poorly but got better especially when Brunt went to left back and he could focus on his own game instead of coming across to cover Baird.
  • Baird - 3 All fans who've seen him at left back knew it was a matter of time before the opposition exploited him like this. Brunt will get the blame for the 2nd goal (rightly) but what was he doing diving in so high up anyway? Criminal. Good pro, too old and should be a last resort.
  • Macca - 5 Felt for him as he just wants the ball to feet to run at people but the service is abysmal. Looks to have talent - I still argue that Varela could influence games more and had end product so in that respect we are weaker.
  • Fletcher - 4 Nowhere near the pace and although he got better the amount of hoofs or long passes into the corners to turn around defenders was awful
  • Yacob - 6 Did his usual thing although I thought he struggled (as he does) mobility-wise in a 4.
  • Brunt - ? Was having another total horror show until he nicked a scruffy goal and an assist (I'm not one for calling corners assists though). We looked better with him at left back purely down to balance if nothing else.
  • Sess - 5 See Macca as it's basically the same. The supply they are asked to work with is dreadful and they are under instruction to just get up to challenge 50-50s from the 2nd balls of our aimless hoofs forward.
  • Victor - 2 Apparently only a matter of time for the most fragile groin in the business to go again. He was starting to look half-decent. Simply not reliable enough to build a team around.
  • Berahino - 6 Should've scored really but had little quality to work with. Has to start every game before being dealt with in the summer one way or another.
  • Ideye - 7 I'm with everyone else in surprise at how well he did. Took his goal well but it was the physicality, effort and nastiness that was a pleasant surprise. Really worked hard.
  • Mozza - 7 Created our best chance when out of position on the left wing. Has to start because we miss him so much when he doesn't.

AllenKevanHogg:

Team selection must have many influences, not least what may been suggested to encourage an incoming player. Unless a player is blatantly not trying, we must assume he IS trying his best. Wisdom for example. A youngster out on loan to learn but actually a regular first choice until now, ahead of a World Cup player.

For what it's worth my armchair selection to get us out of range of the drop would now be: Foster; Gamboa (if still there?? Wisdom to come on if not working or Dawson if back to the wall), MacAuley, Lescott, (Dawson bench), Pocognoli (Brunt bench or reshuffle with Dawson/Wisdom); McManaman, Morrison a must, Gardner (Fletcher bench until up to speed), Mulumbu (Yacob bench); Ideye covering a lot of ground bless 'im, Berahino/Sessegnon swapping or Fletcher AND Gardner in midfield. I would only let Dorrans go to support a fine player in his quest for first team football. In the right set-up, he is very good to have around.

This way Albion might attack and link constructively (minimum hoofing) from the back. Goals from Ideye, Berahino/Sessegnon, Morrison, McManaman, Gardner/Fletcher/Dorrans. Attack is a good form of defense. But have who we have.