It’s hard to believe this is a Burnley side that finished 24 points above Sunderland in the Championship last season.
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Nine months on, they now find themselves 21 points behind the Black Cats, who are flying high in eighth place in the Premier League table – and that’s with 14 games of the season still remaining.
Nobody of a claret and blue persuasion is expecting the Clarets to be sitting in such a lofty position, but what they do expect is to see their side at least battle to try and avoid safety, rather than meekly accept a third straight relegation at this level.
Let’s be frank, Scott Parker’s side are heading back to the Championship and, at this rate, will be lucky to match Vincent Kompany’s tally of 24 points from two seasons ago.
100 days have now passed since their last league win, 15 games have come and gone. The gap to safety only grows and grows, now standing at 11 points.
You can accept Burnley losing games in the Premier League. But there’s ways and means of doing it. This, a hapless defeat, was not it.
Parker’s troops were weak, they lacked quality or any sort of punch and were miles and miles away from the required level. In truth, they were abysmal. It was the worst display of the season, and that’s saying something given Brighton was only a few weeks ago.
Josh Laurent and Zian Flemming look unhappy at full time. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttardplaceholder image
Josh Laurent and Zian Flemming look unhappy at full time. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
Facing Sunderland at the Stadium of Light is no easy task, there’s a reason why they’re the only remaining side yet to lose at home in the top flight this season.
But to finish the game without producing a single shot on target and serving up an xG of just 0.07 is inexcusable – and if I’m being frank, I can’t even recall where that 0.07 would have come from. They were lucky to finish on zero goals, it was that bad.
It’s the sort of display – in front of the nation on Monday Night Football – that, coming off the back of an already miserable winless record, gets the manager the sack.
And on that point, here we are again. We find ourselves back in the situation where Parker’s job will be discussed and debated ad nauseum until the visit of West Ham on Saturday.
Martin Dubravka reacts to the opening goal. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttardplaceholder image
Martin Dubravka reacts to the opening goal. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
He appeared to have overcome that particular conundrum despite overseeing a seven-game losing streak just before Christmas. But while performances have improved, and results, marginally at least, the displays at Brighton and now Sunderland have now only invited more and more pressure.
Even the calmer heads among the fanbase appear to have turned and, as witnessed on Monday night, we’re getting to the stage where supporters are beginning to make their voices heard.
Seconds before Sunderland scored their second goal, Burnley wasted yet another set-piece (more on that later), sparking boos from those hardy souls located in the away end and chants of “sidewards and backwards, everywhere we go”.
There weren’t many of them housed up in the gods, but they were still audible. Parker made reference to the chants during his post-match press conference too, so those dissenting voices were, and will continue to be, loud and clear.
Bashir Humphreys looks despondent as Sunderland double their lead. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttardplaceholder image
Bashir Humphreys looks despondent as Sunderland double their lead. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
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Burnley never looked right from the off. Keeping faith with five at the back, Burnley looked slow and ponderous in possession throughout, lacking any sort of nous or idea of how to break down a stubborn and well-organised Sunderland side out of possession.
On the ball, meanwhile, the home side were dynamic, they were forward-thinking and looked to break at speed – basically everything Burnley were and are not.
Yes, the Black Cats have recruited incredibly well, but they’ve also managed to keep that same hunger and desire they had on their way up from the Championship, keeping that spirit while adding some much-needed quality. Burnley can only look on with envy. The difference between the two sides is night and day.
While we can talk all day about how poor Burnley were in possession, we also can’t avoid how shaky they looked defensively.
Brian Brobbey gave Burnley’s back three the runaround all night, so much so Axel Tuanzebe had to be hooked off at half-time. Bashir Humphreys and Maxime Esteve weren’t much better either.
Armando Broja wastes a good shooting position. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttardplaceholder image
Armando Broja wastes a good shooting position. Photo: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
They were made to look like school boys by the hustling, bustling number nine, who – despite his inconsistencies in front of goal – is exactly the sort of striker Burnley are crying out for, a forward who puts defenders under pressure from the first minute until the last. The defenders will have been up all night in hot sweats.
Now onto those dreaded set-pieces. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s a free-kick, a corner or even a basic throw-in, Burnley just don’t seem able to execute. At this rate, I wouldn’t put it past dead-ball specialist to fail to beat the first man on his first appearance in Burnley colours (which wasn’t against Sunderland, as he was an unused substitute, and it won’t be next week either, given he’s ineligible to face West Ham).
Heading in one direction
We can focus on this game in isolation, or certainly compare it to the dreadful Brighton display, but the facts, data and statistics don’t lie. Burnley are basically bottom of every Premier League metric, even below Wolves despite the table suggesting otherwise.
Yes, they’ve been competitive and – by and large – haven’t been beaten convincingly on too many occasions, but they’ve also proven time and time again they’re just not good enough either.
We’re getting to the stage now where we all know where this is heading, it’s just a case of waiting for Burnley to be put out of their misery. Again.
This was a sobering night. One where all of Burnley’s deficiencies, all of their flaws, came to the fore at once.
Sunderland only served to highlight just how wrong Burnley have got it this season, while they’ve got it so right. The contrast in fortunes couldn’t have been any starker.
Rather than lament a deathly quiet deadline day, the under-fire Clarets boss pointed his finger at a poor summer of recruitment, which left Burnley chasing their tails right from the off.
It’s hard to argue, but what has followed has only served to make things worse.
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