Burnley 3-0 Blues

Starting XI

Completely unchanged.

Game

When you concede after 48 seconds against the best side in the division on their home turf, you're in trouble.

This was the first goal we conceded in the first 15 minutes of matches and the quickest goal of the Championship season to date. Kristian Bielik couldn't sort his feet out on the edge of the Burnley box. That led to a break. Hannibal Mejbri went steaming across the pitch but left his position and when the ball was switched, Emmanuel Longelo was left 2 v 1 against Connor Roberts and Manuel Benson. He didn't deal with the ball in behind, caught in no-man's land. Bielik had been dragged out of position and wasn't on hand to deal with the cut back that found Anass Zaroury.

The first half was completely dominated by Burnley and though chances were few and far between, the chances they created were good ones with Benson and Roberts at the heart of them. They were at it again on 25 minutes, Roberts the outlet, finding Benson who cut inside of Longelo then found Roberts with Hannibal and Auston Trusty passing on men without bodies being available. Bielik did just enough to put Benson off.

On 45 minutes, they added the second. Bielik's pass to Colin was sloppy. Burnley moved quick from left to right. Roberts was the outlet again. Bielik shifted across the cover the space. Hannibal ran across him to get back to Roberts. His man. Josh Brownhill stepped off and Trusty half committed, both nowhere near Brownhill and having left space for Roberts to move into. Bielik couldn't turn in time, Hannibal had sprinted out and couldn't turn back. Roberts scored.

Juninho Bacuna came close with a free kick at the end of first half injury time. The closest Blues got.

The second half saw less quality chances created but more of them. Benson cut inside of Hannibal and fired over from the edge of the box. Zaroury's cross hit Bielik then Jay Rodriguez and fell kindly for John Ruddy. A straight ball behind found Josh Cullen whose finish was poor. In response, the best Blues could muster was a Troy Deeney deflected effort from a long throw.

Blues changed shape with five to go but it got worse. Johann Berg Gudmundsson saw his free kick go just over the bar. Brownhill won a loose ball on the edge of the box that allowed Roberts to fire just wide. Then in the final seconds, Charlie Taylor played a straight through ball from defence that set Nathan Tella against Bielik, the latter attempting to push up, lacking the pace to get back and the game was done.

Tactics

This was 3-1-4-2 v 4-3-3.

Burnley set up a little like Manchester City here. Roberts and Ian Maatsen often narrow to offer the short pass or open the space for the wingers, who stayed high and wide throughout. Jack Cork sat at the base with Josh Cullen and Brownhill as high 8's and Rodriguez up top but constantly dropping off. It meant Burnley were 5 v 5 against our back five so it was more important that we got things right ahead of them.

We didn't. We didn't get near Arjanet Muric, Taylor Harwood-Bellis (THB), Jordan Beyer or Cork in the initial build up. When they made the first pass out to full back or winger, as we would have anticipated, we were slow to take up the press. That was down to either communication in releasing Hannibal and Bacuna or poor reaction on their part to the danger. It meant the back five couldn't commit either, for fear of either the ball in behind them or being played around with the 1-2.

Blues' response in possession was pitiful. Nobody was brave enough on the ball in defensive areas to engage Burnley and open gaps. It became a confidence-sapping long ball style where Deeney challenged aerially a number of times only to see flick ons fall to the opposition who could then build again. When we did try and play to feet, we either lost the duel or had taken so many touches beforehand that the chance to play had been lost.

There was an attempt to change at half time. Hannibal engaged higher, almost forming a front three with Deeney and Chong. Longelo and Maxime Colin engaged with the full backs rather than the wingers. Hannibal and Bacuna were on top of the midfielders leaving the three centre backs and Bielik occupied by Burnley's front three and Trusty engaging higher with Rodriguez or Brownhill. A gamble that momentarily looked bright until Benson ended up 1 v 1 with Marc Roberts. Also, Burnley now had an out on the other flank so once they got the ball under control, they were able to switch to the other side and move forward in a pass or two less than in the first half.

Blues made two tactical switches in terms of personnel. Firstly, Jobe Bellingham replaced Roberts. Bielik dropped into the back three with Bacuna deeper in midfield. With five minutes to go, Jonathan Leko replaced Colin and Blues moved to a diamond, Dion Sanderson shifting to right-back, Deeney as a CAM and Leko up top.

Players

For Blues, nobody stood out in a good way. The main concerns were Bielik and Hannibal, the former sloppy in possession and slow across the ground while the latter was everywhere but nowhere. On a day where bravery was needed, Roberts and Trusty struggled to commit and also play across the ground.

For Burnley, Roberts and Benson were outstanding. Zaroury didn't lose the ball, it felt. The central defensive pairing and Cork never seemed to lose the ball. All round, very good.

Anything else?

Was Hannibal lucky not to get a second booking? Probably. He certainly dives in.

Wrapping it up...

Comfortably our worst performance since August.

Burnley were very good. Every time we tried to commit, they had an answer. They were very comfortable in possession. They didn't rise to a couple of poor second half challenges. Didn't rise when we lost our heads towards the end of the first half. They were dominant and deserved the win.

We were miles off it. We didn't react well. Sure, we kept a shape, but we couldn't engage. There were clear signs that we lacked communication and bravery from defensive areas to help force others to commit. The gaps were too big. And that doesn't cover us in possession where we were abysmal, struggling to progress, making poor decisions, giving it away cheaply and letting Burnley build all over again.

My concern about this performance is that it only does more to serve the feeling that we haven't quite been right since the return from the World Cup break. Against Blackpool we kept good shape but were rusty in our decisions. Against Reading, we were fortunate for mistakes and though the bright start probably earned us the result, the management of the game and our decisions weren't great. Here, we looked a side with no plan, and we know Eustace always has a plan.

Whether we can put this one down to a bad day office depends on the response against Hull before the year is up.

The issue for Eustace is that he doesn't exactly have the options to change things up right now - the senior outfielders on our bench are Jutkiewicz, who would ultimately come in as a like for like replacement for Deeney, Jordan Graham and Leko. Beyond that, it's the teens again.