Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After a relatively tame effort at staving off top flight relegation in 2014/15, Burnley have made a real fist of it in 2016/17, so much so that they’ve all but secured a second successive season in the Premier League. Under boss Sean Dyche, the Clarets have gone from strength to strength this season; combining a mixture of grit and determination with a smattering of flair and nous in the final third. A top-half finish is still mathematically possible for the Turf Moor outfit, which would be their highest position in English football since those heady days of winning the old First Division back in 1960.
It’s a stark contrast to their counterparts Middlesbrough – the side they got promoted with last season – who have underachieved massively and are on the brink of an instant return to the Championship. Dyche’s men have certainly confounded the online bookies. Betway Sports recently carried out Premier League betting research which suggests the Clarets are the league’s fourth biggest overachievers this term behind Watford, Chelsea and West Brom. The research is based on the assumption that you were to place a £10 bet on each Premier League team to win every single one of their games in the 2016/17 campaign. Burnley would have returned a £39 profit of so far this term – the fourth highest – with Watford generating the best return of £118.
It has never been easy for Burnley to establish themselves within the footballing elite. The Lancashire side sit firmly in the shadows of the neighbouring Manchester sides and have even been forced to watch their bitter rivals Blackburn lift the Premier League trophy back in 1995. So how have they managed to cement themselves in the top tier this time around? We offer up a few suggestions as to the formula of their 2016/17 success:
Fortress Turf Moor
Bizarrely, Burnley are the only side in the Premier League without an away league win this season. All ten of their victories have come on home soil at Turf Moor, where they have been an incredibly tough nut to crack. Since the turn of the year, only high-flying Tottenham and a Lincoln City side bitten by FA Cup fever have been able to win there, with the Clarets defeating last year’s champions, Leicester back in January and following that up by taking a point off this year’s champions-elect, Chelsea.
Interestingly, Burnley are yet to find themselves trailing in any home game at half-time this season, which has undoubtedly provided the platform for their impressive run of results at Turf Moor. Dyche’s men have been labelled a direct side in the past, but certainly at home this season they cannot be tarred with that brush; with data suggesting only a quarter (25%) of passes made were considered long balls.
Talented young English defenders
There is no doubt that Sean Dyche’s mobile phone will be red-hot during this summer’s close season with the transfer talk already hotting up. His backline have come in for significant praise from the media when they’ve been analysing the playing stats this term and rightly so. Former Manchester United centre-half, Michael Keane appears to be finally realising his potential, while left-back Ben Mee is also putting in star performances with regularity. Both Keane and Mee have been virtual ever-presents in the Clarets’ side, both featuring for the most minutes this season (2970), according to football statistics site WhoScored.com. Combine this with an England international keeper between the sticks in the shape of Tom Heaton and Sean Dyche has got a defence with real English backbone.
Managerial consistency
Burnley have enjoyed real continuity over the last 18 months. Boss Sean Dyche has been instrumental in their success by maintaining a united dressing room whilst seeing some of his Premier League counterparts dispensed with all too quickly by trigger-happy owners. Dyche is now the seventh-longest-serving manager in the entire Football League and has been in charge at Turf Moor for well over 200 competitive games. Even when Burnley were relegated to the Championship two years ago, there was never a hint that the Clarets’ board of directors would fire Dyche and the club are now reaping the rewards of their loyalty. It’s a stance that struggling clubs such as Swansea and Middlesbrough would do well to look at and take on board.
Committed yet unassuming front men
Despite their undoubted success this season, Burnley remain the division’s third lowest scorers. They’ve cemented a place in relative mid-table comfort without a genuine 20-goal-a-season talisman. However, what they have in abundance is work rate, commitment and unassuming power that’s a real handful for any Premier League defence. Striker Sam Vokes enjoyed an excellent Euro 2016 with Wales last summer and took his form into 2016/17 with aplomb, while Ashley Barnes has also been an able deputy.
The fact that last season’s leading light, Andre Gray has been forced to bide his time of late from the bench is further cause for praise. Put simply, Sean Dyche has built a team greater than the sum of its parts and this summer he will get the riches of Sky television money to try and strengthen the squad further and make it a hat-trick of seasons in the top flight.
