Burnley v Chelsea - Player Ratings

[CrosspoolClarets]

Hart 8
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 6
Mee 4
Taylor 6
JBG 6
Defour 7
Cork 6
Brady 7
Hendrick 6
Vokes 6

Wood 5
Barnes 5

I’m going to focus on some positives.

The ball was in Chelsea’s final third more than ours (yes, really). I accept they were in possession of it a lot there, but they didn’t get through us as much as maybe it appeared for the first hour.

Brady was bright, and had 3 of our shots. Defour was bright too, and our pass % was up to 81%. Cork only misplaced 2 passes, Defour 4 and Hendrick 2 (Hendrick didn’t have the ball much but was up against the tough Italian Jorginho).

We tried to play it on the deck, initially with some joy, until over excitement from Mee and Hendrick doing that cost us the first goal. Lowton and Taylor were forward more than Alonso, who was pinned back a bit.

So, some concerns, but some perspective too.

[clansman]

Hart 6 don’t understand the love in with him. Made some good saves but let two in. 9 goals in two weeks. Get Heaton in !
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 5
mee 5
Taylor (not a fan but he battled well today) 6
Jbg not strong enough 5
Cork 4
Defour 6 (mom)
Brady 6 did well
Hendrick 3 (second half just gave up, lazy, slow, no confidence, this after some better performances lately)
Vokes 6 won headers worked hard but we know he is slow and tactics don’t suit him.
Wood 4 poor again
Barnes 4 no effect
Westwood 4 not on long enough but has to be better than Hendrick!!

[Colburn_Claret]

Hart 8
Lowton 6
Tarks 6
Mee 7
Taylor 7
JBG 7
Defour 8 mom
Cork 5
Hendrick 7
Brady 7
Vokes 6

Wood 5
Barnes 6
Westwood 6

Looked better in possession with Defour and Brady on the pitch.
The big problem is losing possession in the wrong areas at the wrong time. When teams break on us we are so slow to get back in time. Jack Cork in particular was poor, but I've a feeling he was carrying a knock, it's the only explanation for his jogging back after losing the ball. He looked ****** long before he went off.
Sometimes you just have to take your hat off to the opposition. At one nil we were in it, but the second goal unleashes the beast.

[piston broke]

Some ridiculously low scores on this thread. We were pretty good up to HT and not poor up to the second goal. After that the game was done. They had all the confidence and knocked it about for fun. Disappointingly our heads went down and this is becoming a bad habit
Hart......7
Lowton..6
Tarks.....7
Mee......6
Taylor....7
JBG......7
Defour...8
Cork......5
Brady.....6
Vokes.....7

Wood......5
Barnes.....5
Westwood..n/a

[jdrobbo]

Hart 7
Lowton 5
Mee 5
Tarkowski 6
Taylor 6
Gudmundsson 7 mom
Defour 6
Cork 4
Brady 6
Hendrick 5
Vokes 5

Wood 5
Barnes 5

[Dark Cloud]

Been in the pub before and after the game and just got home, so possibly more than a little squiffy, but here goes...
Hart 8 - I really don't believe he could have done any better with the goals and he made several top drawer saves.
Lowton -7
Tarks - 7
Mee - 7
Taylor - 8 (I thought he'd be our weak link, but tbf he played well imo)
Defour - 7
Cork - 5 (What's happened to him?)
JBG - 6
Hendrick -6 (was doing ok until he messed up and then his confidence disintegrated)
Brady - 7
Vokes 7 (won his share of headers, but alone up front he'd no one to feed off them)

Wood N/A because he's bloody useless and also because he's offside more than Andre Gray and that really takes some doing. (It would not surprise me if Wood applied for planning permission to build a new house, but it was turned down on the grounds it was situated offside!!)
Barnes -7 definitely made a difference tbf
Westwood N/A

First 25 minutes we played pretty well and could have edged in front. Unfortunately Hendrick (who was doing ok) messed up and allowed a really good side that all important first goal and from then on we were chasing shadows. Someone said at half time "we're still in this", but tbh I felt we weren't and their second goal was just a matter of time. What is really, really worrying for me is that for a couple of seasons now we've given even the top, top teams a real game and either snatched points off them (City home last year, Chelsea home when Brady scored his free kick, Utd away on Boxing day and several others) or we've been really close and been "robbed" by poor/marginal decisions (Arsenal home and away , Liverpool home etc). Now we've gone seriously backwards as we're absolutely miles away once again and although it's not games like City and Chelsea which will ever define our season, it's still clear we have lost something from our overall game and it's not clear how or if we will will ever get it back.

[Claret]

Hart 8
Lowton 6
Tarkowski 7
Mee 6
Taylor 7
JBG 8
Defour 7
Cork 6
Brady 7
Hendrick 6
Vokes 7

Wood 6
Barnes 7

[Wo Didi]

Hart 8
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 4
Mee 5
Taylor 5
Brady 6
Defour 7
Hendrick 4
Cork 5
JBG 6
Vokes 7

Wood 4
Barnes 4

Beagleheart, the best username I've ever seen.

[ashtonlongsider]

Hart 7-Again he kept the score down, pulling off a couple of 'worldy's' but thought he should have done better for their 2nd.
Lowton 4-Poor and not worth shirt at present. Bardsley certainly a better defender.
Tarkowski 5-The chemistry between him and Mee doesn't look right IMO.
Mee 5-Showing the reason why he didn't leave in the summer at the moment.
Taylor 6-We ned to be patient with this lad, he's improving game on game.
JBG 5-I'd like to see the stats. He had plenty of the ball but end produce was very lacking.
Defour 8*-To say he's been out for so long I thought he played really well.
Cork 4-Been out of sorts for quite a while now and not worth his place at present.
Brady 6-Never been a fan of his but he showed some glimpses and extra mark for lasting 90 mins.
Hendrick 3-Sorry not for me. Can't believe he's still being touted as someone to play in the whole.
Vokes 6-Gave everything but the predictable tactics made it easy for their classy defenders to counteract.

Wood 3-How many touches did he get and how often was he caught off side. Why wasn't Vydra used?
Barnes 5-Not really on long enough to have any influence. Although I don't think Chelsea No1 will forget him too easily.

[TVC15]

Hart 8 - 3 brilliant saves. Not sure what he could do about their 2nd and 3rd. Both great strikes in the corner. Any criticism should go to our outfield players for the space given for 2nd goal and letting Willlian push the ball to the side he always goes.
Lowton 5 - got the runaround from an excellent player.
Tarkowski 5 - too many mistakes with his passing.
Mee 5 - see Tarks.
Taylor 5 - did ok.
Defour 6 - great first 20 mins. Tough afternoon afterwards but never hid.
Cork 4 - struggling at the moment
JBG 6 - showed glimpses.
Brady 6 - good to see him back and looked good on the ball.
Hendrick 5 - mistake cost us first goal but it was a bad ball to him. Playing him out of position makes no sense to me (or probably him)
Vokes 7 - thought he had a very good game and won a lot against their defence. Must be very frustrating to be our best outfield player on the day and get brought off after an hour.

Wood 4 - I wish he would spend all this free time he has got on the bench learning the off side rule. Very concerned about how he is playing as consistently he is offering us nothing.
Barnes 6 - thought he did well when he came on.

Chelsea were an excellent side - I was going to use the word class then but almost every one of their team showed zero class all afternoon.

Liverpool, Chelsea and City look pretty frightening this year to be honest. 9 goals conceded in 2 games looks horrible but I think we have caught both sides playing at their peak. These 3 sides are all better than they were last season and whilst I am definitely concerned at the way we are playing it’s not fair to judge us against City and Chelsea

[strayclaret]

Well beaten, however getting pig sick of the "damage limitation" tactics. Somehow we were still in it at half time, so why not get Vidra on ?. Something different, more mobile, scored a shed load of goals last year. must be training in his wellies
Hart 7
Lowton 5
Tarkowski 4
Mee 5
Taylor 6
JBG 6
Defour 6
Cork 4
Brady 5
Hendrick 5
Vokes 5

Wood 4 No service
Barnes 4 No service

[IanMcL]

Hart 7
Lowton 6
Tarkowski 6
Mee 6
Taylor 6
JBG 6
Defour 6
Cork 6
Brady 5
Hendrick 5
Vokes 6

Wood 5
Barnes 5

Manager 5 we are falling between many stalls.

[Boydesque]

Can’t believe so many are blaming hendrick for the first goal
It was a shocking hospital ball from mee I think
And that was just over the half way line
Chelsea had to bypass a few more players to score but yep lets blame Jeff
Seems to me if you re called cork or vokes you can get away with anything on here (7/10 vokes were you really there) and as for the delight when Jeff’s number went up you’d have thought we d scored with the reaction of some
Everybody s entitled to opinions but sorry that’s not support and ain’t going to help anyone or anything
More love to Jeff please

[watsonsclarets]

Hart 8
Lowton 3 Brain scrambled and the flat line was more like a stairway very poor. People talk about Taylor need to look at his starting position when transitions happen. (Yes Willian is good but why was he so narrow but still letting him cut in and also played them onside time after time) see stairway defence.
Tarks 5 Both center-backs are not talking to each other and cut the Beckenbauer balls
Mee 4 At fault more than once with the new stairway defensive line. Another who made a few decent tackles but our two center-backs are not on the same page
Taylor 6 Did ok gets pelters but did ok
Defour 6 Tried to give and go but lack of movement in front hampered him.
Cork 4 Slow sluggish poor needs a rest
Hendrick 6 Why play him in this role and why keep him on. A decent footballer if played in his position
JBG 6 Decent first half faded and stopped tracking Alonso towards the middle of the 2nd half.
Brady 5 Rusty but tried things another who didn't always trackback
Vokes 6 won things but nobody close to him.

Wood 5 Whats happening he went after the same ball as Brady when he should have been going into the box (confidence)
Barnes 5 headless chicken

Yes it was Chelsea yes they are good but yes we were poor. Something is not clicking for sure the basic framework is not the same.

Look at the goals two where decent two i think where avoidable but it could and should have been a lot worst

[NottsClaret]

Hart 6 - A few good saves, but that 'low to his left' spectre is coming back.
Lowton 4 - All over the shop
Tarkowski 6
Mee 4 - Like he's got two right feet at the minute
Taylor 6
Cork 4
Defour 7 - Sometimes playing on his own, our best player by a distance after yonks out.
Gudmundsson 6
Brady 6 - A few classy touches
Hendrick 5 - Hard on the lad, playing him there. Morons getting on his back at a game can **** off.
Vokes 6

Wood 5
Barnes 4

Yeah we got tonked and gave up by the end but the first half hour was the first bit of footy I've enjoyed for quite a while.

These 'Big 6' games are a bit rubbish though, let's see how we do against a few 'normal' sides before we panic.

[blsclaret]

Hart 7 - two cracking saves
Lowton 6 - not easy against a top side
Tarkowski 6 - as above
Mee 6 - as above
Taylor 6 - as above, but worked well with Brady
JBG 7 - tough against a defender who falls over and cheats
Defour 7 - impressed with his effort of always being available. Chats a lot to Dyche when play stops.
Cork 5 - lost the ball too often
Brady 7 - looked good and ready for the long road ahead. Pleased he is back
Hendrick 6 - tried but looked lost
Vokes 6 - little service, not his fault

Wood 4 - like for like change yet hopeless
Barnes 5 - brilliant black eye !

Officials ? - in 2nd half lino was chatting with Chelsea players too much. Hmmm

We cannot compare with Chelsea, but we could lose in a better way.