Burnley picked up a vital three points against West Ham in a 2-0 victory at Turf Moor in a win that was vital in their battle for survival. With Fulham and Cardiff both picking up three points on Saturday, a win for Burnley was crucial and Chris Wood and youngster, Dwight McNeil ensured it was a memorable end to the year for the Clarets.
Back to basics for Burnley
Burnley’s recent success has all been founded upon a strong and sturdy defence. They have struggled to replicate that this season though and have managed only five clean sheets whilst conceding 41 in 20 games.
Dyche returned to his trusted 4-4-2 for the visit of the Hammers and the tactical switch paid dividends. It allowed Burnley to use their physicality to their advantage as they bullied West Ham players off the ball. The striker partnership of Wood and Barnes proved especially effective and the Clarets hit two goals for the first time since early November.
Heaton’s return could spell bad news for Hart
Tom Heaton made his first league start in over 15 months against Pellegrini’s side and the English international could not have wished for a better return as he replaced Joe Hart between the sticks.
The synergy between him and his defence was obvious despite his length absence. In the end, West Ham were limited to only four shots on target – thanks in no doubt to Heaton’s constant shouting and marshaling of his back line.
Hart has not played badly this season but Heaton is the club captain and most probably the better fit for Burnley at this moment in time. Only time will tell if Hart will be happy to sit on the bench for the majority of the season but after Heaton’s impressive return, the former could be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines and possibly an end to his years of Premier League and international appearances.
West Ham struggle when Anderson struggles
Felipe Anderson could well be considered one of the signings of the season. The Brazilian has been key in most of West Ham’s success this season yet he struggled to break down the determined Burnley ranks today. Many of his passes were wayward and he found himself being taken off the ball far too easily.
West Ham have fallen into the trap of being too overly reliant on a single player before, most recently with Dimitri Payet. Pellegrini needs to learn to adapt his team so they can look past Anderson if they need to and learn to win without him at his mercurial best. Today did see a return for Marko Arnautovic which will lift the weight off Anderson’s shoulders but after a superb performance against Southampton last time out, there was an expectation for him to perform once more but this was not the case.
What can West Ham hope for?
After losing their first four games of the season there was talk that this could be a long and arduous season for the Hammers. However, they now find themselves in 11th with 12 points separating them from the drop.
Pellegrini will most probably only be happy once they reach 40 points or are mathematically safe but for now, we can assume that they won’t be going down. A top half finish is probably the best West Ham fans could expect in terms of the league but they are still in the FA Cup and perhaps this is the year to put their effort into the cup and see if they can give the fans something to really cheer about?
Is Sean Dyche’s job safe?
Rumours have started to circulate about whether Sean Dyche might be moved on from his role at Burnley after their fruitless beginning to the season. Although it would be a brazen decision from the Burnley board if they chose to sack him, at the end of the day football is a result driven business and Dyche and his side have not produced the results as of late.
Burnley’s recent upturn in performances should have done enough to assuage the boats for the time being but a lot can change in football in little time. Burnley still find themselves in the relegation zone and have an upward battle to get themselves out of it.
It seems clear that Dyche is the best man for the job but it will remain to be seen if the hierarchy keep their faith in him.
