Second goal arrived at the perfect moment, with the game gradually losing rhythm and City becoming more and more cautious. The importance of the 3 points plus the highly demanding schedule ahead, factors that naturally played a role in our heads...
The obvious negative here is not killing the game in the second half by scoring more goals. With Burnley risking as much as possible, we found spaces between the lines and arrived often at their box. Numerous promising situations which were wasted though...
The last thing I want to see is Rodri - Eric letting the ball bounce behind them, with a close opponent hoping for a 50-50 situation. Or Nathan passing the ball to Jack facing our net and the latter losing it close to our area. You're not going to get the foul, man. You're playing for City, how long will it take for you to realize that you will never get the protection others enjoy?
Eric still lacking confidence and the two "usual suspects" still searching their form. Following the 2-weeks break early in January, Rodri and Joao have been nowhere near their best. And we are already in April. Basic concerns, still I would like to feel optimistic regarding all three. That Eric will not let the team down during this extremely "sensitive" period, he's too fucking good for that. That Joao, active during second half, will eventually turn into the key player he was in the first half of the season. As for Rodri, with him under performing, our balance becomes problematic. A situation spreading nervousness, if not frustration, within the whole team. Hopefully he'll step up, starting from the very next match ahead. Otherwise, recent history indicates that Pep will not wait for ever. He simply cannot afford to...
That aside, Kevin, fresh and sharp, was once again City's brain, involved in both goals. Beautifully scoring the first (and removing the uncertainty nonsense), creating the second. Two assists from Raz, a constant menace for Burnley's defence from the right throughout the match. And Ilkay (whose final decisions were not always the best) scoring the second, always there with an end product when the team needs him...
The response of the team was generally good mentally, facilitated by our tactical flexibility plus a level of game very few can cope with. With Kevin operating from the right, orchestrating attacks and dictating our rhythm, Joao encouraged to storm forward as a winger (an almost permanent feature during second half), and Ilkay advancing unmarked in the box, City could eventually attack with 5 players (at least), in a 3-2-5, with Kyle providing cover behind. And if you feel you've identified our setup in an attempt to react accordingly, you are bound to be corrected: City's fluidity guarantees all kinds of surprises, with Kevin and Ilkay interchanging, Phil and Jack moving unpredictably, even Kyle exploiting space inside or out wide if found the opportunity, and so on, and so on, and so on...
As for Burnley, I will have to check whether Dyche has ever abandoned his typical 4-4-2 before. Webhorst was isolated upfront, hoping for support from one of the three CMs (basically Westwood). His most technical player, McNeil (who has played too much football this season), was subbed at half time, yet Cornet's contribution has been minimal throughout the season. Dyche took his well expected calculated risk in the process, by introducing Rodriguez and Barnes (who is not the player he was), but had to withdraw an exhausted Webhorst (plus Kork). The only reason his team "stayed in the game" (and that is already a generous assessment) keeping a respectable scoreline, is simply because City allowed it by not scoring more -and the truth is there's very little he could have done about it...
There is no love lost for Sean Dyche in this forum - and I fail to understand why. 95% of the criticism he receives is unfair. The simple truth is that Dyche is the basic (if not the only) reason Burnley have survived so long in the PL, always, I repeat, always against all odds. As for the current season, it was a mission impossible from the beginning -and Brentford winning tonight probably seals it. Everything that could have gone wrong for Burnley actually did: Covid, missing key players in defence (I read that was Long's debut tonight, with Mee and Collins both unavailable), key players out of form etc. Webhorst did come in so as to replace Wood, but he doesn't know the team -and his teammates don't know him yet. There is more. Which I will try to cover in another post, also discussing the reasons behind Dyche's success these years (because what he has achieved defines a success, no doubt about that), plus perhaps the only question mark I can think of regarding the quality of his work. To conclude this post, let me highlight two things as an outline: One, Dyche understands (and respects) basic principles of the sport. And two, he is in the worst position from literally all of his colleagues, in terms of quality as well as depth of roster. By far. A situation he has been facing (and handling) with decency, I think. Burnley definitely needed serious reinforcements in specific areas, plain and simple. Provided they do go down, If I was a fan of theirs, I would know where to point the finger for this outcome...
A critical week ahead of us. Good luck to Pep and the boys, wholeheartedly! Stay strong...
PS. Subs programmed, the reasons are obvious. With Kevin preparing to take that free kick, I was thinking that it would probably be one of his final actions in the match -as it was...
PS 2. Highlight of the match, Phil trusting in his GK just before half time. The boy makes that run, being 100% sure Eddie will find him. We've been spoiled accepting such stuff as "normal". They aren't. Ilkay's goal vs Spurs last season in a similar action, for example, is sureal, no other way to describe it. So is the level of mutual understanding and connections within the team Guardiola has built...
