The last two seasons have been almost polar opposites for Burnley Football Club. After comfortably finishing 7th in 2017/18, the Clarets were locked deep in a relegation battle until a few games to go last season, ultimately finishing 15th.
Pundits and fans alike blamed Burnley’s poor 2018/19 season on the Europa League qualifying rounds, which the Clarets qualified for courtesy of their incredible performance just a season earlier. Entering in the second round of qualification, Burnley’s season started on the 26th July 2018 against Aberdeen.
They made it through the tie against the Scottish side, needing extra time at Turf Moor before requiring extra time again in the third round of qualifying which book-ended their opening league fixture of 2019/20 – a drab 0-0 draw with Southampton.
Their dream of reaching the group stage was unfortunately ended in the final round however, by Greek powerhouses Olympiakos. By that point, Burnley had played six whole games more than the majority of their Premier League counterparts – their results rather reflected this too.
They won just two games before December – against Bournemouth and Cardiff – and languished 19th in the table. Whilst they weren’t scoring too many less than the season before, their defence was the biggest problem and the Clarets were clearly unable to replicate the form that saw them claim 12 clean sheets during the 2017/18 season.
Form picked up in 2019 however, particularly in attack, with Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes forming a solid partnership which dragged the Clarets to safety. The return of Tom Heaton, sidelined since the season before, also coincided with the team’s rise up the table.
So is it fair to blame Burnley’s contrasting seasons on the Europa League? Football is not simple enough to simply conclude that an extra six games at the start of the season would cause a team to struggle, especially when the last of those six games was in August.
Whilst their squad was not much different to 2017/18, their relatively small squad size could well explain why they struggled to pick up points in the opening weeks of the season, let alone keep pace with their exploits the season before.
With the likes of Leicester, Everton and Wolves splashing the cash in a bid to bridge the gap to the top six, can Burnley expect to be in the top 10 regularly? Realistically, no. Survival must be the priority whilst the club is still financially smaller than most of the teams around them.
As of 11/07/2019, Burnley have signed two senior players in this summer’s transfer window; defender Erik Pieters joined from Stoke City while Jay Rodriguez sealed a return to his boyhood club from West Brom.
Rodriguez appears to be a direct replacement for Sam Vokes in the forward line, while Pieters provides versatile defensive cover and experience of Premier League survival from his years with Stoke.
Sean Dyche has been typically coy on further transfer news as of yet, but Clarets fans can feel confident that their current squad is capable of survival once again. They are spoilt for choice when it comes to goalkeepers, with Tom Heaton, Nick Pope and Joe Hart all fit and raring to go as the season draws nearer.
In defence, James Tarkowski and Ben Mee will no doubt have benefitted from the extended rest of this summer’s off-season, having played 73 out of a possible 76 games last term.
Charlie Taylor was a shining light in his breakthrough season at left back, while Matthew Lowton and Phil Bardsley largely rotated at right back. Erik Pieters is known best as a left back and will compete with Taylor following the exit of veteran Stephen Ward.
There are no indications that the Clarets will stray from Sean Dyche’s trusted 4-4-2 formation though, with Jeff Hendrick, Ashley Westwood, Jack Cork and Dwight McNeil the established midfield towards the end of last season.
Johan Berg Gudmundsson and Robbie Brady remain fringe options, whilst Steven Defour is nearing a return after a serious injury. Alongside these, Aaron Lennon remains on the books having been out since December with a knee injury.
In attack, Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes will look to continue their red hot streak which saw them score a combined 17 goals in 2019 so far, with the added competition of Jay Rodriguez likely to boost their returns. Matej Vydra remains a fringe option and is attracting interest from a number of Championship clubs meaning his depature from Turf Moor could be likely.
On the face of things, this is not a group of players that should be challenging in the top half of the table, arguably no Burnley players would get into a top-six side. But that was the case two years ago when Sean Dyche built a collective superior to the sum of its parts.
Clarets fans would be ludicrous to expect or demand a top-half finish in 2019/20, but with an extra six games rest and a finely balanced squad, they might trump the odds yet again.
