Granit Xhaka has been criticised by Thierry Henry after Burnley’s opener during the Clarets’ 2-0 win over Sunderland
Thierry Henry has questioned Granit Xhaka’s positioning during Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor, suggesting the midfielder was dragged out of shape in the build-up to Josh Cullen’s opening goal.
After their 3-0 opening-day win over West Ham, expectations around Sunderland had risen sharply, but this defeat served as a reminder of the step up required in the Premier League.
The Black Cats missed early chances through Eliezer Mayenda and Chemsdine Talbi and registered just one shot inside the box after the 14th minute. Losing Dan Ballard to injury further complicated matters, with Le Bris now sweating on the defender’s fitness.
With three points from two matches, there is no need for panic, but Sunderland will need more defensive organisation and clinical finishing if they are to compete consistently this season. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Henry analysed the sequence leading to Burnley’s breakthrough, highlighting how Xhaka became isolated after switching between multiple players.
“Yes, they went with that back four and last year they were very solid, we all know about that, but I like the way they scored that goal at the weekend,” Henry said. “The way they were, as you can see here, the back four, you have the full-back being wide, giving the weight, player iron-wide, and you're going to see here
Henry added on the opening goal: “Which troubled them a bit, as you're going to see here, Xhaka here, with Anthony to stay with him because he's going to end up man-marking Anthony and moving all over the place instead of moving with his team.
“But I like the fact that, you know, sometimes when you go to the right wing, to go to the left wing as they're going to go here, at one point you need to go forward, all right, and Xhaka is going to now end up with Foster, Anthony stays inside, you can see that he's man-marking, but this is what I like about the goal.
“Cullen sees that the ball is going to go to Anthony, he's already on his back to make sure that he can be there and receive the ball. They created that triangle where the guy on the other side is going to receive the ball from the striker. Not him, as you see here, the second guy running inside. This is where I think Xhaka moved too much all over the place and couldn't be in the right position, and what a finish from Cullen.”
Jamie Carragher discusses Burnley’s second goal
Henry’s breakdown suggested Xhaka was caught between pressing Anthony and covering space, leaving Sunderland exposed for Cullen’s clinical strike. Jamie Carragher also discussed the opening goal, praising Burnley’s tactical shape compared to last week’s performance against Tottenham:
“Listen, we highlighted Tottenham last week and how well they sort of played against Burnley, some of the great goals they scored, but I haven't watched the full game last week. Burnley did a lot of things right and a lot of the times they were getting in really good positions but just couldn't finish at the end. They went in with a back four last week, you know, sensible, you know, you to take really considering the opposition that you're up against.”
Carragher then analysed Burnley’s second goal, highlighting their late tactical switch: “What happens in the 69th minute, Scott Park actually changed, made a substitution and went to the back five. We saw this last week, 5-4-1, and as I said, they had some really good moments last week away at Tottenham.
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Carragher added on the late Parker tactical switch: “but they just couldn't quite get that finish, so obviously 20 minutes to go in the game, 1-0, desperate to get that goal, the second goal to kill the game, and looking to find the counter-attack.
“But this is what they lacked last week, and as I said, it's a role reversal in terms of Cullen as the provider, it's Anthony going through, but they didn't have that pass last week against Tottenham,” Carragher concluded ahead of Newcastle United vs Liverpool on Monday night.
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