FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

FFTVERDICT

FourFourTwo Season Preview 2019-20 13

ASHLEYBARNES

SeanDyche’sBurnleypersonified.Thegaffer’s

firstcashsigning,for£450,000inJanuary2014,

hasmadehimselfindispensabletotheteam

withhisabrasive,all-actionstyle.In2018-19he

hitdoublefiguresfora secondseasonrunning.

KEY PLAYER

14

TH

Expect improvements,

shorn of last season’s

European distractions.

VIEW FROM THE STAn DS

NATALIE BROMLEY @NONAYNEVER

This season will be different

because we won’t start in July.

Only the fans experienced Europa

League euphoria; Dyche and his

players didn’t seem to relish the

disruption and relentless travel.

Our most underrated player is

Ben Mee – how he is yet to be

capped by England is beyond me.

The one change I’d make to the

club would be banning the club’s

social media team from tweeting

“GOAL!” when opponents score.

The best away ground is

Vicarage Road.

The best away fans are Watford’s.

They’re a humble club and their

fans don’t cause any bother – they

just want to watch some football.

The player I’d happily drive to

another club is Joe Hart. I still

don’t understand that signing.

Save the date for Sheffield

United. We don’t have any key

battles in this league, but 10 years

ago we beat them at Wembley

for our first promotion to the

Premier League. They struggled;

we thrived. Now the two clubs

meet here for the very first time.

The opposition player I secretly

admire is Troy Deeney – loyal,

passionate and a natural leader.

Yes, I’m aware that this is turning

into a Watford tribute article...

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is

that he faced his hardest test last

year. Questions were asked. But he

had earned the right to try to get

us out of it. He can be stubborn,

but he’s overwhelmingly popular.

If he left, he should be replaced

by... I dread to think. How do you

replace him? Dyche is Burnley.

We’ll finish 13th.

FIVE-POIn T PLAn

1

KEEP DWIGHT McNEIL
You wonder how long the Clarets
will be able to hold onto the teen
talent, given his amazing second
half of the campaign. Having earned
a first England Under-20 call-up, he
was subsequently invited to train with
the senior squad by Gareth Southgate.
He’s already been linked with a move
to Serie A behemoths Juventus after
impressing at the Toulon Tournament.

2

BE BETTER WITH THE BALL

Last season, Burnley averaged
43.4 per cent possession – only
Newcastle and Cardiff had less of
the ball. The previous season, Dyche
had bought Jack Cork to supplement
the talents of Steven Defour; October
2017’s 1-0 win at Everton, with Jeff
Hendrick finishing a 24-pass move,
summed up their intentions. Injury to
Defour and Robbie Brady stunted that
progression last season. It must return.

3

REGAIN A SOLID DEFENCE

Unusually, Dyched chopped and
changed at the back last season:
Joe Hart and Tom Heaton in goal,
with Phil Bardsley and Matt Lowton at
right-back, and Charlie Taylor ousting
Stephen Ward (now at Stoke) on the
left. They conceded 68 goals – only the
bottom three and Bournemouth were
leakier – after posting the sixth-best
defensive record just a season earlier.

4

FIND A WAY TO GET THE

BEST OUT OF MATEJ VYDRA

Having bought Chris Wood in the
summer of 2017, Burnley again
bolstered their strikeforce last summer
by signing the second tier’s top scorer.
But the Czech international made only
three starts in the league, scoring once,
unable to break up the Wood-Barnes
axis. Can Dyche find a way to harness
the free-scoring former Derby forward?

5

STRENGTHEN THE SQUAD

Dyche has to make up significant
ground in the transfer market to
stay competitive. In January, they
arguably weakened the squad by selling
Sam Vokes to Stoke, with Peter Crouch
coming the other way. The re-signing of
homeboy Jay Rodriguez is a welcome
corrective, but – with due respect to the
incoming Erik Pieters – Dyche and his
recruitment team have a way to go yet.

SEASOn PREVIEW

TheQueenVictoria

is under 10 minutes

from Turf Moor, on

the away fan route,

and you can park

there for a fiver. The

Bridge Bier Huis is

another option.

Theclub’sone-sided

Clarets Player

commentaries,

regularly featuring

controversial former

Labour head of

communications

Alastair Campbell.

Directpromotion

and relegation

came in just after

Burnley and Stoke’s

‘convenient’ 0-0 in

1898’s play-offs.

...isa drink:abenedictineat

BurnleyMinersClub. Order it

anywhere else in the country and

bar staff will question your sanity.

VisittheaforementionedMiners

Club. The Weavers’TriangleVisitor

Centre is also worth it for a look into

the town’s textile past. What? It is!

MATCHDAY PACK

AWAY PUB

SIGn ATURE DISH WHILE YOU’RE HERE...

DID YOU MUST FOLLOW

K nOW...?

AUGUST

10 Southampton (h)

17 Arsenal (a)

24 Wolves (a)

31 Liverpool (h)

SEPTEMBER

14 Brighton (a)

21 Norwich (h)

28 Aston Villa (a)

OCTOBER

5 Everton (h)

19 Leicester (a)

26 Chelsea (h)

NOVEMBER

2 Sheffield United (a)

9 West Ham (h)

23 Watford (a)

30 Crystal Palace (h)

DECEMBER

3 Man City (h)

7 Tottenham (a)

14 Newcastle (h)

21 Bournemouth (a)

26 Everton (a)

28 Man United (h)

JANUARY

1 Aston Villa (h)

11 Chelsea (a)

18 Leicester (h)

21 Man United (a)

FEBRUARY

1 Arsenal (h)

8 Southampton (a)

22 Bournemouth (h)

29 Newcastle (a)

MARCH

7 Tottenham (h)

14 Man City (a)

21 Watford (h)

APRIL

4 Crystal Palace (a)

11 Sheffield United (h)

18 West Ham (a)

25 Liverpool (a)

MAY

2 Wolves (h)

9 Norwich (a)

17 Brighton (h)

FIXTURES