Glen Little has been left scratching his head at Burnley’s defensive facilities in the Premier League this season.
[placeholder image
Read More
Star of Burnley promotion pens new five-year deal with German giants](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/star-of-burnley-promotion-pens-new-five-year-deal-with-german-giants-6232938 "Star of Burnley promotion pens new five-year deal with German giants")
Scott Parker’s side won promotion from the Championship last term in record-breaking fashion, conceding just 16 goals all season and keeping an incredible 30 clean sheets.
But that defensive structure has been nowhere to be seen in the top flight, with Burnley conceding an eye-opening 61 goals in 31 games – the worst record of any side in the division. Only four clean sheets have been kept up to this point too.
“We've been saying it for about two months now, that if you could just win two games in a row…and there's been fixtures where the games have been winnable,” the former Burnley man said.
“We've been involved in games and we're not asking for Mission Impossible to win games, are we? It's not Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and Barcelona at the Camp Nou. It's Fulham.
“There were a lot of people who said to me at half-time how poor Fulham were and they were on the day.
Little pictured with former Burnley teammate Robbie Blake (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)placeholder image
Little pictured with former Burnley teammate Robbie Blake (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
The Burnley Express has launched a new WhatsApp channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our Burnley Express WhatsApp channel.
“But when you compare the defending to last season, I know it is different, the Championship and the Premier League, but still, you look at all of those clean sheets and the record-breaking defence, all those minutes without a goal and so on. You look at it now and you’re thinking: ‘what’s happened this season?’.
“Because on paper, I think a lot of people would have Martin Dubravka over James Trafford, Kyle Walker is better than Connor Roberts, so has losing CJ Egan-Riley really made that much of a difference? If we had him next to Maxime Esteve, would we be keeping clean sheets? Surely he wasn’t THAT good. If he was, then he's one of the best centre-backs in the world!
“So it’s just strange the amount of goals that have been going in all season. But on the rare occasion they do keep a clean sheet, they don’t look like scoring enough at the other end either.
“Yet they can score two at home against Manchester United, two at home against Fulham, three against Brentford, yet they don’t win any of those games.
“But they keep a clean sheet against Everton just after Christmas, they keep a clean sheet against Bournemouth, they only concede one at Anfield, one at Stamford Bridge…it’s just the inconsistency.
“I don't know whether it's just a bit of a freak of how it’s turned out, or whether it’s the tactics that when you concede, suddenly you think: ‘well, we're going to lose’, so the shackles come off, there's no pressure and then you end up scoring a few goals.”
Continue Reading