Leeds United fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat in their bottom-of-the-table Premier League clash on Saturday.
Burnley boss Scott Parker praised his side’s flexibility after a tactical tweak paid off instantly against Leeds United.
Having moved to a back-five for much of the season so far, Parker deployed a 4-3-3 formation on Saturday as Burnley beat Leeds 2-0. Goals either side of half-time from Lesley Ugochukwu and Loum Tchaouna inflicted a disappointing defeat on Daniel Farke’s side, who despite dominating possession rarely tested their hosts after falling two goals behind.
With an extra midfielder on the pitch, Burnley were able to push Ugochukwu forward early on and that freedom allowed the 21-year-old to ghost in behind Anton Stach and head home Kyle Walker’s wicked cross. And Parker was happy to see that decision pay off early doors.
“We want to try and be flexible this year when we can,” he told the Burnley Express of his tweak. "The fine margins are that a back four worked today and we got a result and the fine margins are if we didn't get a result, it would have been the wrong thing to do.
“We needed to be brave and make decisions. Like anything in life, you have to make certain decisions on how you see best to try and get a result. We did that and the players executed. We've worked on this throughout the season.
“I think full credit to the players because changing in and out of formations is something where there's a lot of detail and a lot of work gone in. The players need to focus and listen and they executed brilliantly in that sense, and certainly it's an armour that we can use that we can be flexible and certainly change the way we play.”
Leeds United need to bounce back quickly vs West Ham
By moving to a 4-3-3 formation, Parker effectively matched Leeds in midfield and Burnley came out the better, scoring early before sitting in to defend their lead with relative comfort. Farke’s side were allowed to hold possession but kept largely at arm’s length.
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Rare chances fell to the likes of Brenden Aaronson and Jayden Bogle, but both were guilty of wastefulness as Leeds fell to arguably their most disappointing defeat of the season. Farke will now have to rally his side quickly, with another huge bottom-of-the-table clash on Friday.
Leeds host strugglers West Ham United at Elland road to kick off the upcoming weekend of Premier League action, with both likely to be in and around relegation trouble come May. West Ham are still to fulfil their gameweek eight fixture, which sees them host another likely bottom-half side in Brentford tonight.
Farke will hope to be at least one stronger in attack come Friday, with Willy Gnonto and Noah Okafor both missing out at Burnley. Dan James returned early from an ankle injury and was fit enough for a substitute appearance at Turf Moor, suggesting he should be available to start against West Ham.
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