Norwich v Burnley - Player Ratings

[claretspice]

A performance as depressing as it was grimly inevitable from the team was announced.

Pope - 7 - Uncomfortable at times with the ball at his feet, but he made two splendid saves to keep us in the game at 1-0.

Lowton - 6 - Bit surprised at the low scores. I thought he did OK and made the backline generally more assured, but was less effective in possession than we expect at his bet.

Taylor - 6 - Generally pretty good, but I thought his defending for the second goal was appalling; only he will know why he got drawn to the outside man and allowed Pukki such a gap between himself and Tarkowsi.

Collins - 6 - Better than on Wednesday night albeit against inferior opposition, but looked tentative at times.

Tarkowski - 6 - There was a clear plan from Norwich to deny him the chance to get on the ball, but particularly in the first half he still looked our most composed passer of the ball and he defended OK except for the opening goal, for which he would expect to do better with the initial ball.

Westwood - 4 - there is a good player in Westwood who has done well in the past and may well do again in the right set up, but at the minute he's miles out of form even before the basic question of whether he and Brownhill are compatible is raised, and it is inexplicable he kept his place in the team. Another 90 minutes of scrappy, misdirected and frenetic passing, and he was also caught goal side of the ball far too often far too easily, not least for the move which forced the corner from which Norwich opened the scoring. How he's in the team ahead of Cork is a mystery.

Brownhill - 5 - the better of the midfield two and although his passing was generally accurate, it was rarely the sort of perfectly weighted pass that the forwards wanted and needed, and he rarely managed to break the lines.

Lennon - 5 - A game too far, and as suspected he was ineffective against an opponent content to sit deep and deny space in behind.

Cornet - 5 - for all the other shortcomings, if he takes that chance then we more than likely in the game. It was a sitter, and indicative of a performance which showed promise but rarely delivered.

Weghorst - 5 - never got the sort of ball into feet that he so obviously wanted, and completely ineffective as a result.

Rodriguez - 6 - worked pretty hard, used the ball better than most and carried some semblance of a threat.

Vydra - 5 - lively but couldn't replicate the threat he showed on Wednesday night.

Mcneil - 7 - within 5 minutes of coming on he'd laid one on a plate for Maxwell, played the sort of round-the-corner ball into Jay that the front players had been crying out for all afternoon, and moved into the centre circle, dragged two players out of position and clipped a perfectly weighted pass precisely into Taylor's stride. They were the three most accurate creative contributions of the game to that point, which tells the entire story of the game. Should have started, and for all the chatter about what he's not doing at the moment (plenty, as one badly overhit cross observed), the basic skill of keeping the ball shouldn't be so easily overlooked.

It gives me no pleasure to say this, but the sheer reductiveness of the tactical set up for this game raises real questions about the manager and the freshness of his tactical outlook. It was obvious that despite the euphoria of Wednesday night, we'd need to be much more intelligent and composed in possession to impose our supposed superiority on Norwich; the decision to once again pick a midfield 4 that lacked anyone capable of taking the ball under pressure, controlling it and moving it onto a better placed teammate with a progressive pass was inexplicable (Maxwell has many qualities, but his touch and passing under pressure have yet to convince). The team was crying out for Cork to sit in front of the back four and both prompt us calmly and protect the centre backs, and for McNeil to come in and act as the link man that Weghorst is crying out for. Dyche spent the week noting that McNeil has the technical ability to get in virtually any team in the league, and then decided he didn't need that sort of skill-set against a team as limited as Norwich.

As it was, the game quickly settled into a predictable pattern - Burnley's superior athleticism forced territorial superiority, but we failed to break Norwich down, lost the ball too easily, and were then exposed on the counter-attack because the entire midfield 4 was pressing on. The early, somewhat fortuitous goal didn't help, but even that was the result of Pukki having the space to advance far too far towards goal with the centre backs back-peddling.

We're probably down now, and it will be because we've played this game against this sort of team about 10 times this season, virtually all with Brownhill and Westwood in a midfield two, and barely scored a goal from open play or taken a point from the game. What's that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

[RVclaret]

What's that saying about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

Great post spice and agree with everything you’ve said.

That’s just Dyche though, he’s inflexible and stubborn. He never ever adapts to the opposition and instead it’s all based on loyalty.

In answer to this question, it’s the definition of insanity.

[ClaretTony]

Spoke to some Norwich fans after the game - they said we were the worst team they’d seen at Carrow Rd for 20 years...

That's not true, I've seen worse Burnley teams there in that time and then there was the Norwich team that played in League One. I understand the sentiment though.

[RalphCoatesComb]

Pope7
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 7 *
Collins 6
Taylor 6
Westwood 4
Brownhill 4
Lennon 5
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5
Rodriguez 5

McNeil 6
Vydra 5

[bfcmik]

Pope 6

Lowton 6
Collins 6
Tarkowski 6
Taylor 6

Lennon 5
Brownhill 5
Westwood 5
Cornet 4

Weghorst 4
Rodriguez 4

Vydra 6
McNeil 6

[joey13]

Spoke to some Norwich fans after the game - they said we were the worst team they’d seen at Carrow Rd for 20 years...

They must not of gone on the last time Norwich were in the Premier League then .

[Herts Clarets]

Pope 6

Lowton 5 - too many poor crosses from good positions
Collins 6 - decent
Tarkowski 6 - decent
Taylor 4 - we concede so many goals from his defensive play. Doesn’t stop crosses, doesn’t read danger, plays people onside too often

Lennon 5 - created nothing
Brownhill 5 - ball retention was poor
Westwood 4 - so poor in possession, and I think his legs have gone
Cornet 6 - crested some dangerous points, missed massive chance

Weghorst 3 - he may be technically better than Wood, but he’s nowhere near as effective. Lacks the physicality to play in the premier league, and I don’t think team mates trust him with the ball
Rodriguez 6 - busy. Visibly frustrated with the quality of ball from midfield on multiple occasions

Vydra 5 - busy
McNeil 6 - one moment of quality, worked hard

Not going to issue marks as i didnt see enough of the game, but just want to back up a point made by Dan that i mentioned after the Man City game when fingers were being pointed at Roberts at right full back - both City goals came from our left back position and it happens far too often. Teams target our left side as Taylor is a weak link.

[superdimitri]

Taylor let himself down for the second goal, but he was fantastic when he was 1 vs 2 before that, which was actually a better chance for them.

Pope 6
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 7 *
Collins 6
Taylor 6
Westwood 4
Brownhill 5
Lennon 5
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5
Rodriguez 5
McNeil 6
Vydra 5

[BabylonClaret]

Not going to issue marks as i didnt see enough of the game, but just want to back up a point made by Dan that i mentioned after the Man City game when fingers were being pointed at Roberts at right full back - both City goals came from our left back position and it happens far too often. Teams target our left side as Taylor is a weak link.

Agree (and the first pen on Weds cMe that side) bur I think we miss Mee there as well. Tarks does a great job on the left but he's naturally right sided and gets drawn out of position more easily there

[BabylonClaret]

Not going to issue marks as i didnt see enough of the game, but just want to back up a point made by Dan that i mentioned after the Man City game when fingers were being pointed at Roberts at right full back - both City goals came from our left back position and it happens far too often. Teams target our left side as Taylor is a weak link.

Agree (and the first pen on Weds cMe that side) bur I think we miss Mee there as well. Tarks does a great job on the left but he's naturally right sided and gets drawn out of position more easily there

[Luppy]

Pope - 6 - no chance with either goal

Lowton - 6 - defensively solid but hit first man far too often in good positions
Tarkowski - 6 - solid as ever
Collins - 6 - solid
Taylor - 4 - really poor for the killer second. Too many teams we face seem to target our left hand side - is it because of Taylor or what’s in front of him? I’m genuinely not sure

Lennon - 5 - huff and puff but blowing no house down
Brownhill - 4 - poor
Westwood - 3 - if Brownhill was poor, Westwood was appalling. Gave the ball away time and again and I lost count of the number of hospital balls he threw in. Simply has to be dropped - but won’t be
Cornet - 4 - has to score. Just has to score. Created the odd small
Moment - but it was small and infrequent

Weghorst - 4 - same problem as Wood - if the service is appalling, there’s nothing you can do. Feeding off the crumbs that fell from the scraps
Jay - 6 - the one player in the side who didn’t panic on or off the ball. Unfortunately couldn’t drag the garbage around him to a level anywhere near good enough and service into him not even league 1 standard

Vydra - 4 - forgot he’d come on to be honest but service poor
McNeil - 7 - head and shoulders above the rest of his team mates when he came on.

Disjointed, shambolic and gutless are the words that come to mind. Fine margins etc are all well and good but that just doesn’t cut it today. The Cornet miss gives the manager an excuse but that really shouldn’t detract from an abject performance against an abject side.

Our midfield two have been a problem for over 2 years. We’ve done nothing about it and now paying the price. Scotty Arfield would absolutely stroll into this side which underlines how far backwards we have gone.

[fungus_the_bogeyman]

Pope 7*
Lowton 5
Taylor 5
Collins 6
Tarkowski 6
Lennon 5
Cornet 6
Brownhill 4
Westwood 3
Weghorst 4
Rodriguez 4
McNeil 7
Vydra 4

[hoskinsgoalatswansea]

Pope 6
Lowton 4
Collins 5
Tarkowski 7
Taylor 5
Lennon 4
Brownhill 3
Westwood 3
Cornet 5
Weghorst 3
Rodriguez 4
Vydra 4
McNeil 6