TRAFFORD (AGAIN)

[Gordaleman]

What really p*ssed me off today was Trafford berating the ball boys for returning the ball to him too slowly, then taking five minutes to actually get shut of the thing.

There was a fan near me complaining about the Bournemouth keeper time wasting but Trafford was taking just as long and we were losing. The mind boggles.

[Leisure]

Pretty much and they’ve at least only had to watch him twice this season. Was it Bournemouth away when we got chipped from near the half way line?

Yes it was and think it was Vitinho who gave it away and left Trafford stranded. Don't think their fans would necessarily have remembered that, more likely they were just picking up on the negativity of our fans towards Trafford.

[StayingDown4Ever]

Yes it was and think it was Vitinho who gave it away and left Trafford stranded. Don't think their fans would necessarily have remembered that, more likely they were just picking up on the negativity of our fans towards Trafford.

More likely they just used their eyes to see him giving the ball away to their players or blasting it out into the stands.

[Leisure]

More likely they just used their eyes to see him giving the ball away to their players or blasting it out into the stands.

You're just making stuff up now How many times did he blast it out into the stands?

[spt_claret]

Disagree with this. We were good first 10 and had a lot of the ball throughout the game, but other than the free kick don’t remember us creating any chances or working their keeper.

In contrast, Bournemouth created 3/4 great chances second half and it could have easily been more for them.

Agree that first half the one error was the difference between the sides at half time but we didn’t create anything of note in response.

Didn’t think Trafford was at fault for either goal, but even Bournemouth fans were enjoying him getting the ball.

People are far, far too hung up on possession.
Possession as defined by Opta isn't even possession, it's number of passes completed, because they judge it impossible to define control based on time, pointing to long clearances etc. as being grey zones. It usually is equivalent to time with the ball because, simple logic- pass more and you've probably had the ball more- but it skews in favour of high-ppm short indirect sideways play, rather than patient but more direct play. Extreme example obviously but if Team A had the ball for 30 seconds and made 15 passes in that time, but then Team B had the ball for a minute and made five passes in that time, Team A is recorded as having 75% possession despite only having the ball for 33% of the time.

We had lots of possession, on actual time as well as Opta possession, but it really means nothing and as Burnley fans we should know that better than anybody- beating Liverpool 2-0 with 20% possession, beating Fulham 2-1 with less possession and 0 shots on goal. Possession means nothing, what you do with it matters, we had extremes early last season where we had tons of the play doing nothing and I maintain that was just as bad and boring football as backs to the wall hoofing. Today, we had 2 or 3 good passages of play- 1 pretty good chance for Odobert, 1 good chance for Vitinho, 1 disallowed goal.
Beyond that we had 2 speculative efforts from Odobert & Vitinho, a good free kick from Brun Larsen, that's it. That doesn't scream dominant. Bournemouth had way less play but had 3 great chances (1 a gift), scored 2, and had 2-3 other speculative chances. They were far more productive with the ball than we were- to look at it the other way outside of possession obsession- how many chances do you suppose they'd have had with as much of the ball as we had? Probably more.

We had a few good moments and looked more generally comfortable with possession but we were still completely inept in both boxes. That's what counts, not passes, not possession, not dribbles.

[CrosspoolClarets]

The thing about Trafford, we are “all in”, same with Kompany.

If we sell him, and lose, say, £10m, then if we sell half a dozen others and take a similar hit, and / or pot the manager, where do we go from there? No money, few decent players, no reputation for sticking together. The decline will set in.

So we have no choice but to learn and develop. There is a chance that in a year or two Trafford will be close to the England squad, with more development. I remember thinking Pope would never make it because he was vulnerable to that low shot inside his near post. He learned. He developed.

This is why it is moronic to boo him, to chant for Muric etc. I’d love to transfer some of those “supporters” though, that’s another story.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Yes it was and think it was Vitinho who gave it away and left Trafford stranded. Don't think their fans would necessarily have remembered that, more likely they were just picking up on the negativity of our fans towards Trafford.

I’m sure that’s it.

[CoolClaret]

The thing about Trafford, we are “all in”, same with Kompany.

If we sell him, and lose, say, £10m, then if we sell half a dozen others and take a similar hit, and / or pot the manager, where do we go from there? No money, few decent players, no reputation for sticking together. The decline will set in.

So we have no choice but to learn and develop. There is a chance that in a year or two Trafford will be close to the England squad, with more development. I remember thinking Pope would never make it because he was vulnerable to that low shot inside his near post. He learned. He developed.

This is why it is moronic to boo him, to chant for Muric etc. I’d love to transfer some of those “supporters” though, that’s another story.

Absolute nonsensical.

There's no guarantees of anything in football.

Chuck a season away in the hopes of developing a goalkeeper? Utter lunacy

[Vim Fuego]

The thing about Trafford, we are “all in”, same with Kompany.

If we sell him, and lose, say, £10m, then if we sell half a dozen others and take a similar hit, and / or pot the manager, where do we go from there? No money, few decent players, no reputation for sticking together. The decline will set in.

So we have no choice but to learn and develop. There is a chance that in a year or two Trafford will be close to the England squad, with more development. I remember thinking Pope would never make it because he was vulnerable to that low shot inside his near post. He learned. He developed.

This is why it is moronic to boo him, to chant for Muric etc. I’d love to transfer some of those “supporters” though, that’s another story.

This is exactly where it has all gone wrong. We need players that can win football matches right now. Not in a few years

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Absolute nonsensical.

There's no guarantees of anything in football.

Chuck a season away in the hopes of developing a goalkeeper? Utter lunacy

So tired of hearing ‘in a few years he will be playing for England’.

[CoolClaret]

So tired of hearing ‘in a few years he will be playing for England’.

As am I - not that I'm particularly that arsed about that either; I want players that give Burnley the best chance of winning a football match.

Find it strange people repeat talking points verbatim without giving it much of their own thought. Seen absolutely nothing to suggest that he is anywhere near the level I'd expect a goalkeeper for England to be at.

[spt_claret]

Yes it was and think it was Vitinho who gave it away and left Trafford stranded. Don't think their fans would necessarily have remembered that, more likely they were just picking up on the negativity of our fans towards Trafford.

I remember that, and it was both players' fault- it's not the only time Trafford has been easily chipped being miles off his line due to a possession turnover. The blame lies on the player for losing the ball but also the keeper for not positioning himself to prevent that. It's not happened for a while - a giveaway that he's at least learned not to hang around that far off his line - but it happened a few times at the start of the season and even in pre-season, people who watched those games saw Trafford make 2 goal costing mistakes in both his preseason games while Muric was MOTM, then Trafford starts against City.

[Nori1958]

You're just making stuff up now How many times did he blast it out into the stands?

Not the first time today he's made similar stuff up

Don't hang around for an answer though, because he won't give you one, probably ridicule you in an effort to distrate from his made up claptrap

[Leisure]

Absolute nonsensical.

There's no guarantees of anything in football.

Chuck a season away in the hopes of developing a goalkeeper? Utter lunacy

So are you saying that Trafford is solely responsible for our league position and poor performances?

[Bordeauxclaret]

So are you saying that Trafford is solely responsible for our league position and poor performances?

????

[CoolClaret]

So are you saying that Trafford is solely responsible for our league position and poor performances?

Not solely responsible but I think a major part of.

It's that ethos of just chucking new youngsters in wholesale and expecting it to work - he's done it again recently with Esteve.

Goalkeeper is an integral part of our team and style though and he makes us noticeably worse - if we played a different style then that's a slightly different argument.

[Barlickclaret]

Yes it was and think it was Vitinho who gave it away and left Trafford stranded. Don't think their fans would necessarily have remembered that, more likely they were just picking up on the negativity of our fans towards Trafford.

Vitinho did give it away, but if Trafford would stay in his box, he wouldn't have been stranded, also how many times does he keep the ball at his feet for minutes, then pass it to either of our defenders, who then give it him back, and he then kicks it long, why doesn't he just start an attack straight away, like muric did all last season.

[Vim Fuego]

So are you saying that Trafford is solely responsible for our league position and poor performances?

Who on earth has said that ? It would help a lot if Muric played over JT, but there are many many other problems. One acute problem is playing players that might be good in 2 or 3 seasons and not right now

[StayingDown4Ever]

So are you saying that Trafford is solely responsible for our league position and poor performances?

[spt_claret]

Not solely responsible but I think a major part of.

It's that ethos of just chucking new youngsters in wholesale and expecting it to work - he's done it again recently with Esteve.

Goalkeeper is an integral part of our team and style though and he makes us noticeably worse - if we played a different style then that's a slightly different argument.

Wasting your breath. People seem to remember football's a team game when it suits, people took a while to get used to Muric last year (myself included, he was scary early doors) but that was a new system, the same people who understood and defended that system then suddenly have amnesia as to how important the keeper is in our system. Even though we've been lurching into ill-defined long balls to small guys an awful lot, we still deploy the keeper more than almost any time and at least attempt to build out before after a good bit of stalling we hit it long. Even if you do think he's better at shot stopping, positioning, commanding the box, aerial balls, or set plays (all of which I'd dispute) there's a very important part of our system that relies on something he is poor at.

He's not developed much- I think Kompany's hanging him out to dry on that front, I've not got anger towards Trafford just pity. He's managed to avoid being lobbed from range for a while, he's not had a mare from a corner for a while. He's still not exactly demonstrating himself as much of a key asset, let alone future England worthy outside of the media opinion machine. Particularly don't get "We'll make a profit even if we go down, look at Ramsdale". Slight difference is Ramsdale was Sheffield's player of the season. Trafford isn't ours.

[deanothedino]

Not solely responsible but I think a major part of.

It's that ethos of just chucking new youngsters in wholesale and expecting it to work - he's done it again recently with Esteve.

Goalkeeper is an integral part of our team and style though and he makes us noticeably worse - if we played a different style then that's a slightly different argument.

The other 10 players being sh!te has more to do with it than who is in net.

[CoolClaret]

Honestly the excuses that VK and some of the players are having made for them is mental.

If we were in the relegation zone but within touching distance that'd be one thing but we have massively regressed and if you can't see that well - I've got a bridge to sell you.

[deanothedino]

Vitinho did give it away, but if Trafford would stay in his box, he wouldn't have been stranded, also how many times does he keep the ball at his feet for minutes, then pass it to either of our defenders, who then give it him back, and he then kicks it long, why doesn't he just start an attack straight away, like muric did all last season.

Trafford should make players move for him I guess. If there’s no movement, which there wasn’t today, what is he supposed to do? Muric would struggle too when our outfield players don’t show for the ball beyond the two centre backs.

[CoolClaret]

The other 10 players being sh!te has more to do with it than who is in net.

The Goalkeeper, their style/strengths and how it compliments the team's supposed style is MASSIVE.

Popey suited Dyche's Burnley style perfectly - he would have been utterly **** for us last season in a team wanting to play through the lines and recycle posession.

It's utterly bonkers how people can't see this.

[CatonClaret]

I’m not a regular contributor on UTC but I always really enjoy reading comments and seeing what other fans are thinking on the current status of the team.

Since day dot I’ve been perplexed by the Trafford situation and felt the casting aside of Muric was rank man management. For my money, it should always have been Muric’s shirt to lose and to start Trafford as VK did against City showed his hand. It’s a heated debate and it’s clearly the stick to beat VK with at the moment. On here every week you’re seeing people passionately going at the argument from both sides. As I’ve said, I was always Muric in but recently it’s clearly got to the point where you have to make that change. A fair few comments today about Traffords distribution and for me it’s been plainly obvious his distribution is nowhere near the level of Muric’s. It’s been clear for a while Trafford isn’t improving and is arguably going backwards so I thought I’d pull his passing stats for the last few games and compare it to the other GK we were in for in the summer - Verbruggen. In terms of how we look to play this comparison alone is pretty damning and it does beg the question - what is the thinking and the end game with this?


It’s debilitating Trafford (no matter how strong his mentality is), it’s impacting the team week on week and it’s become the straw that’s broke the camels back with a vocal portion of fans towards VK. The stats for me prove it shouldn’t really be a debate anymore and it’s kinder on Trafford to let him to sit it out for a few games and try and build his confidence back up.

[CoolClaret]

What really p*ssed me off today was Trafford berating the ball boys for returning the ball to him too slowly, then taking five minutes to actually get shut of the thing.

There was a fan near me complaining about the Bournemouth keeper time wasting but Trafford was taking just as long and we were losing. The mind boggles.

He does it every single match.

[Vim Fuego]

The other 10 players being sh!te has more to do with it than who is in net.

Muric makes the team tick. He dictates tempo, sees penetrative passing lines, plays the ball fast, makes fast decisions, plays long and short and plays accurately

This was very much needed today. It would have helped a lot

[Row Z]

The thing about Trafford, we are “all in”, same with Kompany.

If we sell him, and lose, say, £10m, then if we sell half a dozen others and take a similar hit, and / or pot the manager, where do we go from there? No money, few decent players, no reputation for sticking together. The decline will set in.

So we have no choice but to learn and develop. There is a chance that in a year or two Trafford will be close to the England squad, with more development. I remember thinking Pope would never make it because he was vulnerable to that low shot inside his near post. He learned. He developed.

This is why it is moronic to boo him, to chant for Muric etc. I’d love to transfer some of those “supporters” though, that’s another story.

I don’t think it’s as black and white as that. Why could Trafford not have been signed for his potential but Muric given the opportunity to continue his development from being in the team of the year?

Muric is far better with his feet than many in the league and would continue to mature with game time. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have stepped up and then been sold at the end of this season, at which point Trafford steps up?

Instead we’re all being forced to witness sub-standard performances under the banner of Trafford learning and developing, yet it’s now undoubtedly costing us points and can we honestly say he’s improved over the season?

I felt sorry for him today. At one point in the second half he played another poor pass to O’Shea, who was immediately under pressure and sent it long down the line, to which he gave Trafford some choice words. Trafford looked like a school child looking over at Kompany as if to say I’m just doing what I’m being coached to do.

Muric last season saw passes nobody on the pitch saw which beat the opponents press and undoubtedly meant teams dropped off us.

[123EasyasBFC]

Trafford will be absolutely nowhere near England, I’ve never known a player make as many mistakes in a single season get the backing he does on here. Yes it’s not just Trafford at fault but nobody defends O’Shea, brownhill or amdouni the way they do Trafford.

Trafford has been nothing but sh*te all season, a few ‘good saves’ each game which make him a ‘good shot stopper’ doesn’t change that, every keeper in the league is a good shot stopper.

He didn’t make a mistake that led to a goal today but he still wasn’t any good with the ball

[Jamesy]

The thing about Trafford, we are “all in”, same with Kompany.

If we sell him, and lose, say, £10m, then if we sell half a dozen others and take a similar hit, and / or pot the manager, where do we go from there? No money, few decent players, no reputation for sticking together. The decline will set in.

So we have no choice but to learn and develop. There is a chance that in a year or two Trafford will be close to the England squad, with more development. I remember thinking Pope would never make it because he was vulnerable to that low shot inside his near post. He learned. He developed.

This is why it is moronic to boo him, to chant for Muric etc. I’d love to transfer some of those “supporters” though, that’s another story.

There is not a chance Trafford will be anywhere near the England squad in a year or two. The only reason he was in the under 21’s is because he was on City’s books.
I know it is well intentioned but please stop trying to inflate his ability. He is a young lad who is miles away from being a good keeper.
You talk about more development. I think the development he needs is somebody to toughen him up. He may then stand a slight chance of becoming a goalkeeper. At the moment he is just a ponderous softie.

[Sutton-Claret]

The difference today was absolutely the GK. 3 shots on target and 2 went in...... We were the better team today. To lose 2 nil is gutting.

[Sutton-Claret]

He should've been loaned out to a Championship club (if anybody wanted him) in the last window. His price tag is absolutely his downfall.

[dsr]

The difference today was absolutely the GK. 3 shots on target and 2 went in...... We were the better team today. To lose 2 nil is gutting.

To be fair, he would probably have saved the second shot on target if it hadn't been deflected. But you have a point about the volley blasted past him from 6 yards. Why would any goalkeeper let that in? the reason both centre halves slowed down and let him through, was because they knew no goalkeeper on earth would expect to be beaten by a free shot from 6 yards.

(I hope my sarcasm is matching yours.)

[Swizzlestick]

I’m not a regular contributor on UTC but I always really enjoy reading comments and seeing what other fans are thinking on the current status of the team.

Since day dot I’ve been perplexed by the Trafford situation and felt the casting aside of Muric was rank man management. For my money, it should always have been Muric’s shirt to lose and to start Trafford as VK did against City showed his hand. It’s a heated debate and it’s clearly the stick to beat VK with at the moment. On here every week you’re seeing people passionately going at the argument from both sides. As I’ve said, I was always Muric in but recently it’s clearly got to the point where you have to make that change. A fair few comments today about Traffords distribution and for me it’s been plainly obvious his distribution is nowhere near the level of Muric’s. It’s been clear for a while Trafford isn’t improving and is arguably going backwards so I thought I’d pull his passing stats for the last few games and compare it to the other GK we were in for in the summer - Verbruggen. In terms of how we look to play this comparison alone is pretty damning and it does beg the question - what is the thinking and the end game with this?


It’s debilitating Trafford (no matter how strong his mentality is), it’s impacting the team week on week and it’s become the straw that’s broke the camels back with a vocal portion of fans towards VK. The stats for me prove it shouldn’t really be a debate anymore and it’s kinder on Trafford to let him to sit it out for a few games and try and build his confidence back up.

You should contribute more, totally agree.

[dsr]

I’m not a regular contributor on UTC but I always really enjoy reading comments and seeing what other fans are thinking on the current status of the team.

Since day dot I’ve been perplexed by the Trafford situation and felt the casting aside of Muric was rank man management. For my money, it should always have been Muric’s shirt to lose and to start Trafford as VK did against City showed his hand. It’s a heated debate and it’s clearly the stick to beat VK with at the moment. On here every week you’re seeing people passionately going at the argument from both sides. As I’ve said, I was always Muric in but recently it’s clearly got to the point where you have to make that change. A fair few comments today about Traffords distribution and for me it’s been plainly obvious his distribution is nowhere near the level of Muric’s. It’s been clear for a while Trafford isn’t improving and is arguably going backwards so I thought I’d pull his passing stats for the last few games and compare it to the other GK we were in for in the summer - Verbruggen. In terms of how we look to play this comparison alone is pretty damning and it does beg the question - what is the thinking and the end game with this?


It’s debilitating Trafford (no matter how strong his mentality is), it’s impacting the team week on week and it’s become the straw that’s broke the camels back with a vocal portion of fans towards VK. The stats for me prove it shouldn’t really be a debate anymore and it’s kinder on Trafford to let him to sit it out for a few games and try and build his confidence back up.

I don't see what in those statistics proves anything about Verbruggen's distribution. Obviously it says Trafford plays far more successful long balls, and presumably also plays more unsuccessful ones too, hence the lower percentage. But his rating (whatever that signifies) appears to be about a quarter of a point per game better than Verbruggen's, and it's also worth considering that Verbruggen plays in a far better team than Trafford does which is bound to make his stats look prettier.

[spt_claret]

*Caton's post*

Trimming for space/scrolling but brilliant post, agree with every word. You should post more.

I don't see what in those statistics proves anything about Verbruggen's distribution. Obviously it says Trafford plays far more successful long balls, and presumably also plays more unsuccessful ones too, hence the lower percentage. But his rating (whatever that signifies) appears to be about a quarter of a point per game better than Verbruggen's, and it's also worth considering that Verbruggen plays in a far better team than Trafford does which is bound to make his stats look prettier.

Check the Total and Percent columns, not long balls. Verbruggen is deployed way less but his accuracy is way, way above Trafford's. His worst is better than all but 3 of Trafford's, his 2nd worst is better than all of Trafford's. He's a more accurate passer. Which is what makes the reliance on Trafford when he's not accurate frustrating. Although I concede his less frequent passing could skew the results and his accuracy may drop if he passed as much depending on the type of pass,, the point is more about deployment and accuracy as a percentage is still the best you can go off without a full breakdown of pass type, risk, or Expected Pass Completion.

I don’t think it’s as black and white as that. Why could Trafford not have been signed for his potential but Muric given the opportunity to continue his development from being in the team of the year?

Muric is far better with his feet than many in the league and would continue to mature with game time. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have stepped up and then been sold at the end of this season, at which point Trafford steps up?

This is a really good point I think everyone's forgetting. Muric started shakily last season, learning our system as much as the fans were getting used to seeing it, but even if he had liability moments he also had magic moments early on, and improved at an accelerating rate as the season went on. He was 23 when last season started, 24 when this season kicked off. Trafford is young yes. Muric is still young for a keeper too, they don't peak til late 20s or even early 30s. Trafford hasn't improved this season except at not being chipped as easily as at the start & not being beaten to as many corners (although teams haven't been playing the ball that gave him trouble as much which surprises me). I fully accept that Trafford is young and can improve. Same is true of Muric. People seem to have decided that because he's yesterday's news in Kompany's eyes he's also plateau'd and can't get any better when we saw huge improvements over last season, it's a counterfactual because he hasn't played this year but who's to say he wouldn't have made similar strides this year? Even if you believe he isn't good enough? Because neither's Trafford, and he's had 27 games to improve without much luck so far. Let's say Muric started the season, had a few howlers, okay in comes Trafford, you do as Brighton are doing and alternate, giving them a couple games to rectify mistakes before taking out of the firing line. But let's say Muric starts and actually continues his development. Then we've got ourselves a well performing keeper who fits the overall team's style much better with a season of being used to it, who is growing in quality and value, while also having a hotly rated prospect we can blood in the cup or loan to the Championship (Assuming we HAD to sign Trafford, which I dispute).

There's more evidence to suggest Muric would have improved more this season, than not, going off Muric's development last year.

[CoolClaret]

Trimming for space/scrolling but brilliant post, agree with every word. You should post more.


Check the Total and Percent columns, not long balls. Verbruggen is deployed way less but his accuracy is way, way above Trafford's. His worst is better than all but 3 of Trafford's, his 2nd worst is better than all of Trafford's. He's a more accurate passer. Which is what makes the reliance on Trafford when he's not accurate frustrating. Although I concede his less frequent passing could skew the results and his accuracy may drop if he passed as much depending on the type of pass,, the point is more about deployment and accuracy as a percentage is still the best you can go off without a full breakdown of pass type, risk, or Expected Pass Completion.


This is a really good point I think everyone's forgetting. Muric started shakily last season, learning our system as much as the fans were getting used to seeing it, but even if he had liability moments he also had magic moments early on, and improved at an accelerating rate as the season went on. He was 23 when last season started, 24 when this season kicked off. Trafford is young yes. Muric is still young for a keeper too, they don't peak til late 20s or even early 30s. Trafford hasn't improved this season except at not being chipped as easily as at the start & not being beaten to as many corners (although teams haven't been playing the ball that gave him trouble as much which surprises me). I fully accept that Trafford is young and can improve. Same is true of Muric. People seem to have decided that because he's yesterday's news in Kompany's eyes he's also plateau'd and can't get any better when we saw huge improvements over last season, it's a counterfactual because he hasn't played this year but who's to say he wouldn't have made similar strides this year? Even if you believe he isn't good enough? Because neither's Trafford, and he's had 27 games to improve without much luck so far. Let's say Muric started the season, had a few howlers, okay in comes Trafford, you do as Brighton are doing and alternate, giving them a couple games to rectify mistakes before taking out of the firing line. But let's say Muric starts and actually continues his development. Then we've got ourselves a well performing keeper who fits the overall team's style much better with a season of being used to it, who is growing in quality and value, while also having a hotly rated prospect we can blood in the cup or loan to the Championship (Assuming we HAD to sign Trafford, which I dispute).

There's more evidence to suggest Muric would have improved more this season, than not, going off Muric's development last year.

I'd just add that Muric from the glimpses we've seen of him this year looks to have filled out his frame even more. Looked massive in the net - even more imposing than last season.

Very strange this from VK, really don't understand it one jot.

[dsr]

Check the Total and Percent columns, not long balls. Verbruggen is deployed way less but his accuracy is way, way above Trafford's. His worst is better than all but 3 of Trafford's, his 2nd worst is better than all of Trafford's. He's a more accurate passer. Which is what makes the reliance on Trafford when he's not accurate frustrating. Although I concede his less frequent passing could skew the results and his accuracy may drop if he passed as much depending on the type of pass,, the point is more about deployment and accuracy as a percentage is still the best you can go off without a full breakdown of pass type, risk, or Expected Pass Completion.

That's why I mentioned the rating. It doesn't say what the rating is trying to say, but I assume it's an assessment of all factors, and Trafford wins.

It's a lot easier to play a short pass to a man who isn't marked than it is to play a long pass to a man who is marked. That, I suspect, is why Verbruggen has higher pass accuracy, not because he is inherently a better passer. Or at least, not necessarily because he's a better passer. The number of short passes that Trafford messes up, Palace last week notwithstanding, is small. Perhaps on the columns we didn't see, the percentage for long passes are separated out from the percentage for short passes?

[deanothedino]

Muric makes the team tick. He dictates tempo, sees penetrative passing lines, plays the ball fast, makes fast decisions, plays long and short and plays accurately

This was very much needed today. It would have helped a lot

No one was moving to allow him to have done that. You’re all so fixated on watching Trafford that you’re not seeing the bigger picture.

[deanothedino]

The Goalkeeper, their style/strengths and how it compliments the team's supposed style is MASSIVE.

Popey suited Dyche's Burnley style perfectly - he would have been utterly **** for us last season in a team wanting to play through the lines and recycle posession.

It's utterly bonkers how people can't see this.

I can see it. I just can also see that a different goalkeeper isn’t fixing us and we’d still be going down. Not sure how you can’t see that tbh.

[quoonbeatz]

No one was moving to allow him to have done that. You’re all so fixated on watching Trafford that you’re not seeing the bigger picture.

Correct.

[Ric_C]

This is the main selection that has me questioning Kompany's judgement as a manager.

If he'd have brought Muric in sooner, and we'd be trying to play the same style as last season, there would be nowhere near as much dissent in the stands as there is now.

It is nonsensical, bizarre and almost to the point of insanity. It is quite clear however that he is going to stay "all in" and die on this particular hill for some reason.

Look at Onana yesterday, not the best GK but he pinged the ball the length of the pitch to setup Rashford's goal. Muric has that in his armoury, Trafford doesn't

I'm bored discussing this now, as I presume is everyone else.

[Darthlaw]

If he'd have brought Muric in sooner, and we'd be trying to play the same style as last season, there would be nowhere near as much dissent in the stands as there is now.

You assume the results would have turned out different, of course.

[kentonclaret]

The number of times that our defence parted like the Red Sea in the second half allowing Semenyo acres of space to run in to and bear down on goal was alarming. With better finishing the lad would have scored a hat trick. As it was it took a wicked deflection off Taylor’s back giving Trafford no chance of saving it.
We were totally inept at both ends of the pitch and it was easy to see why we are the second lowest goal scorers in the PL and destined for the drop. Our strikers would struggle to finish their dinner.

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Same as those who boo at him for not passing quicker... They don't look at the defenders telling him to keep it, or the obvious problem that there was nobody to pass it to, just boo one of our players because they think it's clever

That's utter BS regarding yesterday's match as there was a number of Burnley players showing their frustration at Traffords slow distribution. It wasn't just the fans yesterday it was actually team mates too showing their frustration

[ClaretAL]

That's utter BS regarding yesterday's match as there was a number of Burnley players showing their frustration at Traffords slow distribution. It wasn't just the fans yesterday it was actually team mates too showing their frustration

I can 2nd that, I spotted that numerous times.

[Murger]

I’ll third that. O’Shea was especially dishing out a bollocking yesterday.

[Quickenthetempo]

The bottom line is, we can't afford a GK who regularly lets his first shot on target in.

Yesterday, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, City to name a few.
We need far better.

[dsr]

Look at Onana yesterday, not the best GK but he pinged the ball the length of the pitch to setup Rashford's goal. Muric has that in his armoury, Trafford doesn't

Trafford played at least 3 long, accurate balls to the right wing yesterday.

[kentonclaret]

This is the main selection that has me questioning Kompany's judgement as a manager.

If he'd have brought Muric in sooner, and we'd be trying to play the same style as last season, there would be nowhere near as much dissent in the stands as there is now.

It is nonsensical, bizarre and almost to the point of insanity. It is quite clear however that he is going to stay "all in" and die on this particular hill for some reason.

Look at Onana yesterday, not the best GK but he pinged the ball the length of the pitch to setup Rashford's goal. Muric has that in his armoury, Trafford doesn't

I'm bored discussing this now, as I presume is everyone else.

Just laughable comparing the distribution from Onana (a keeper who cost around £50 million) with that of a young keeper like Trafford. Why don’t you compare the finishing of Fofana with Ollie Watkins?