Aaron Lennon

[Tuddybfc]

Certainly the most frustrating player we’ve had for some time, shows the odd flash of class but generally looks like he’s no clue what he’s doing, just in a world of his own. The sooner Brady is ready to start the better

[CoolClaret]

There's me thinking he did some great defensive work again yesterday

[claptrappers_union]

And there’s me remembering the likes of Duane Courtney, John Spicer, Brian Stock and Leon Cort

[NL Claret]

I thought he got through a lot work yesterday and certainly kept us high up the pitch in the 2nd half.

[boyyanno]

The most frustrating thing about him is the fact he won't stay out wide.

Is he actually playing as a winger?

[Granny WeatherWax]

The most frustrating thing about him is the fact he won't stay out wide.

Is he actually playing as a winger?

Why is that a surprise. Dyche likes his wingers to tuck in.

[SalisburyClaret]

Good defensively yesterday but often not in a position to receive the ball when we go forward

It was definitely one of his better games though

[Cheshireclaret]

And there’s me remembering the likes of Duane Courtney, John Spicer, Brian Stock and Leon Cort

Super goalkeeper, John Spicer - leave him out of it

[expoultryboy]

Thought he played the role he's been given ( helping Lowton) , very well yesterday . Much better than the cover JGB gave Taylor , who was up against two on quite a few occasions .

[Vegas Claret]

And there’s me remembering the likes of Duane Courtney, John Spicer, Brian Stock and Leon Cort

I'm watching the Port Vale v Sunderland game and it reminded me of all the dreadful performances we had at Vale Park, we've come an awful long way in a short space of time when you mention those players !!!

[Carport]

Good defensively yesterday but often not in a position to receive the ball when we go forward

It was definitely one of his better games though

I actually watched him go and mark a Leicester player when Jo Hart was about to kick out as if he deliberate didn’t want to make himself available. Or was he just acting on instructions from Dyche to stay even when we have the ball?

[Vino blanco]

I'm not a fan of Lennon, though I thought he had a better than usual game yesterday, perhaps his third decent game since he joined: Everton at home last season, Bournemouth and yesterday. Having said that, with all our squad fit, he wouldn't get anywhere near my starting eleven: JBG and Brady are so much more effective.

[jrgbfc]

Going back to the days of Arfield and Boyd our wide players are clearly instructed by Dyche to tuck in and make things as compact as possible. Unfortunately Lennons game has always been about hugging the touchline and taking on full backs so it's almost a waste of time picking him the way Dyche wants his wingers to play.

[ClaretTony]

There's me thinking he did some great defensive work again yesterday

Didn’t he just. Can’t see how people don’t see it.

[RocketLawnChair]

Didn’t he just. Can’t see how people don’t see it.

I think in reality people do see it. I just think some fans want to see us attack a bit more.

[Vegas Claret]

I think in reality people do see it. I just think some fans want to see us attack a bit more.

we need a more competent midfield to enable us to do that at this level with any sort of regularity

[warksclaret]

Huge frustration from the Burnley fans yesterday in the first half as he kept giving the ball away. Surprised to see it was JBG subbed instead of him but then learned JBG had been suffering from a calf strain all week.

In fairness he put in a great shift in the second half and SD kept applauding him for his tracking back and determination

[CoolClaret]

Didn’t he just. Can’t see how people don’t see it.

Confirmation bias, they'll amplify anything negative he does but also attenuate any good that he does, to fit their pre determined opinion on his performance.

[AlargeClaret]

Certainly puts in a shift and happy to track back, that said for a high class attacking winger who can score he’s been hugely frustrating , gives the ball away too easily as well. In his defence though I take it Dyche won’t let him get too wide ? He’s still very quick and a great shame we hardly ever see the old Aaron Lennon

[Leisure]

I don't really understand why we play a winger to primarily help out the full back/defence, with the Manager seemly not wanting him to attack their full back, then we may as well just play another defender (who presumeably should be better at defending than a winger).

[IanMcL]

If we play Lennon like we do and he fails to deliver, when he does get the chance, I would rather have Boyd and Arfield. They have great engines and total commitment.

[boyyanno]

Why is that a surprise. Dyche likes his wingers to tuck in.

It's a surprise because both Boyd and Arfield at least attacked the line even if they tucked in to help out the defence. Lennon spends too much time drifting inside and it completely nullifies him.

[thatdberight]

(supporting) Didn’t he just. Can’t see how people don’t see it.

Confirmation bias, you're amplifying anything positive he does but also attenuating anything bad that he does, to fit a pre determined opinion on his performance.

[HiroshimaClaret]

Confirmation bias, they'll amplify anything negative he does but also attenuate any good that he does, to fit their pre determined opinion on his performance.

One could suggest a similar bias (in reverse) with the `In Dyche We Trust` brigade since April 17th 2018. One COULD...

p.s. Lennon put in a fantastic defensive shift in the 2nd half on Saturday. We do though need to get 3 in central midfield to give our `wingers` more freedom to attack when we have the ball.

[thatdberight]

Sean Dyche's "Dictionary of Football" defines a winger as "an extra full-back", so it looks like he's doing as required.

[claretspice]

I don't really understand why we play a winger to primarily help out the full back/defence, with the Manager seemly not wanting him to attack their full back, then we may as well just play another defender (who presumeably should be better at defending than a winger).

We don't - Dyche expects all his players to work in teams, and the flank pairing (full-back/wide midfielder) is no different. Lennon and Lowton have a double-job to do in defence, and a double-job to do in attack. In a game when we're on the back foot, we'll of course see more of the winger helping out defensively than the full back bombing on.

[joey13]

We don't - Dyche expects all his players to work in teams, and the flank pairing (full-back/wide midfielder) is no different. Lennon and Lowton have a double-job to do in defence, and a double-job to do in attack. In a game when we're on the back foot, we'll of course see more of the winger helping out defensively than the full back bombing on.

Don’t you think it’s Time Dyche changed his tactics then , everyone knows how we will play , hence we are getting overrun every match .

[Targetman]

Don’t you think it’s Time Dyche changed his tactics then , everyone knows how we will play , hence we are getting overrun every match .

Do you feel we got overrun at Leicester?

[HiroshimaClaret]

Don’t you think it’s Time Dyche changed his tactics then , everyone knows how we will play , hence we are getting overrun every match .

It certainly is when we play against the `lesser lights` when we should be looking to win games. I`d love to see him try something different in three of the next 4 games where we really need to be getting 6 points.

[Leisure]

We don't - Dyche expects all his players to work in teams, and the flank pairing (full-back/wide midfielder) is no different. Lennon and Lowton have a double-job to do in defence, and a double-job to do in attack. In a game when we're on the back foot, we'll of course see more of the winger helping out defensively than the full back bombing on.

But Lennon hardly ever looks to take on the full-back. 80% of his game is defending/helping the full-back. To me that's the secondary role of a winger, his primary role should be to attack the opposition (which he very rarely does).

[ClaretLoup]

Did well defensively on Saturday and also won some free kicks in useful places. Whether he is playing to instructions or not as Leisure says his attacking mojo has gone and it's an easy afternoon for the opposition full back who then has lots of opportunities to get forward himself as Chilwell did.

When he does get in a good offensive position he is now too slow to go past his man and his delivery is not great in any case.

[Mala591]

Would be a much more effective forward (with less defensive responsibilities)
in a 4-3-3 formation e.g.

Defour------Cork------Hendrick
Lennon------CF------ Brady
(or JBG)

Imo we definitely need a 4-3-3 option when playing the bottom of the table teams.

[ClaretLoup]

In a game when we're on the back foot, we'll of course see more of the winger helping out defensively than the full back bombing on.

This is the whole nub of the argument. Fans want to see a player or tactics that put the opposition on the back foot, not us as per the Huddersfield game.

[HiroshimaClaret]

Would be a much more effective forward (with less defensive responsibilities)
in a 4-3-3 formation e.g.

Defour------Cork------Hendrick
Lennon------CF------ Brady
(or JBG)

Imo we definitely need a 4-3-3 option when playing the bottom of the table teams.

Would love to see that or my preferred -

Hart
lowton long Mee Taylor
Hendrick Defour Westwood
JBG Brady
striker

No doubt we will hear `but we have to stop the opposition`s ******...`

[The Enclosure]

Ahhhhhh Brian Stock...... i just broke out in a cold sweat.

[NL Claret]

Ahhhhhh Brian Stock...... i just broke out in a cold sweat.

Would have been a good un if we could have passed and had the ability to run. Loved by some though.

[The Enclosure]

If we play Lennon like we do and he fails to deliver, when he does get the chance, I would rather have Boyd and Arfield. They have great engines and total commitment.

Most sensible post you have made today Ian.we should never have let these two leave the club when we did.

[claretspice]

But Lennon hardly ever looks to take on the full-back. 80% of his game is defending/helping the full-back. To me that's the secondary role of a winger, his primary role should be to attack the opposition (which he very rarely does).

Cause and effect though. Lennon spends 80% of this time defending because the team spends 80% of its time defending. If the team can get more on the front foot, we'll see Lennon more on the front foot.

The thing we've not quite cracked with Lennon is getting the most out of him as a counter-attacking threat. We've seen it occasionally - at the end of the Bournemouth game, for example - so we know he's got it, but we've not used it regularly enough.

Lennon's never really been the sort of player to take on the full back and turn him inside out. His game is based around his pace, and clever movement to allow him to get round a full back when he gets the slightest bit of space, or to exploit gaps on the counter.

I do agree that if we're going to play 4-5-1/4-3-3, then ideally we'd add a bit more flexibility by allowing Hendrick to tuck into one of the wide berths to allow one of the wide players to make runs into central attacking areas. At our best last season, we were doing this - but it only really works if we're able to get good possession in the opponent's half of the pitch. That's been our biggest challenge so far this season. Until we solve it, our wingers will be doing quite a lot of defending.

[Spijed]

Most sensible post you have made today Ian.we should never have let these two leave the club when we did.

You can certainly use that argument for Arfield but not Boyd, as we didn't miss him at all last season.

[Blackrod]

But Lennon hardly ever looks to take on the full-back. 80% of his game is defending/helping the full-back. To me that's the secondary role of a winger, his primary role should be to attack the opposition (which he very rarely does).

Couldn't agree more. I'm not sure this was his game before he got here.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Couldn't agree more. I'm not sure this was his game before he got here.

But look at those before him. Boyd was an attacking midfielder in a central role at Peterborough. Often even a striker. Moulded into a hard working wide midfielder. Rather than a winger.

Arfield a central midfielder. Moulded into a hard working wide midfielder.

Stanislas rarely featured as he was more suited to attacking and playing wide. As he does at Bournemouth.

Lennon is asking to put team first. Which is fair enough. But thats why we dont see the Lennon we did at Everton and Spurs.

[joey13]

Do you feel we got overrun at Leicester?

In the first half definitely, second half unsurprisingly the emotion of the week and travel kicked in for the Leicester players

[Spijed]

In the first half definitely, second half unsurprisingly the emotion of the week and travel kicked in for the Leicester players

So no credit to us for our performance in the second half?

[boatshed bill]

So no credit to us for our performance in the second half?

It really wasn't anything special, although admittedly an improvement on the first half.

[Spijed]

It really wasn't anything special, although admittedly an improvement on the first half.

Did Hart have to make a save in the second half?

[Siddo]

Certainly the most frustrating player we’ve had for some time, shows the odd flash of class but generally looks like he’s no clue what he’s doing, just in a world of his own. The sooner Brady is ready to start the better

Joe Hart keeps a clean sheet so the doom mongers move onto someone else.

[Blackrod]

But look at those before him. Boyd was an attacking midfielder in a central role at Peterborough. Often even a striker. Moulded into a hard working wide midfielder. Rather than a winger.

Arfield a central midfielder. Moulded into a hard working wide midfielder.

Stanislas rarely featured as he was more suited to attacking and playing wide. As he does at Bournemouth.

Lennon is asking to put team first. Which is fair enough. But thats why we dont see the Lennon we did at Everton and Spurs.

But this does make you question the signing. I was thinking the same about Boyd. Why sign an attacking player to sap the flair out of them.

[boatshed bill]

Did Hart have to make a save in the second half?

Yes.

But like I said, it was an improvement on the (very poor) first half.
Let's not pretend we are playing very well. And let's not assume that people's enjoyment of football is defined by the number of saves our goalkeeper has to make. I'd like to be entertained all over the pitch, please.

[Spijed]

Yes.

But like I said, it was an improvement on the (very poor) first half.
Let's not pretend we are playing very well. And let's not assume that people's enjoyment of football is defined by the number of saves our goalkeeper has to make. I'd like to be entertained all over the pitch, please.

I thought last season was brilliant despite scoring less than a goal per game!

[boatshed bill]

I thought last season was brilliant despite scoring less than a goal per game!

It's all about the football for me.
Incidentally, on 5 Live right now the pundits are all saying we are rubbish.