Burnley v Watford - Player Ratings

[Ric_C]

I'm marking everyone a point up, as the conditions did play a massive part in some of the poor performances on both sides

Pope 7 - seems back to his best. We are going to need him
Roberts 7 - did ok, will only improve with a run of games
Tarkowski 8 - Hate the amount of **** this guy has been getting, yet another outstanding display
Mee 7 - Defensively solid, some shakey moments
Pieters 5 - I like Eric, but he offers nothing going forwards
Lennon 4 - Typical Lennon performance, a couple of runs, but then hid for the rest of the game. How we are still employing this guy in 2022 is one of life's mysteries
Stephens 4 - Let him off a bit as he has hardly played. Did ok in parts but gave the ball away countless times. Don't really rate him as a player tbh.
Westwood 4 - Needed him to step up tonight, he was awful.
McNeil 4 - Lost his confidence, and his body language is all wrong, his first instinct is to go backwards for some reason?
Cornet 5 - Quiet game, but mitigating circumstances, two good efforts on target
Weghorst 5 - Thought he did ok, as Dyche said he needs a few matches to get up to speed. Could have scored a couple, looks tidy on the ball, we will see on this one.

Rodriguez 5 - Typical Jay Rod performance, did ok, and missed a key chance

All in all a solid defensive display let down by a chronic midfield performance, which in turn isolated our strikers. There are a lot of factors on why this could be, but the signs don't look good do they?

And please can we have the old Dwight McNeil back? We really could do with him.

[ClaretLoup]

Pope 7 - preserved a point
Roberts 6 - first time I’ve seen him but can’t see how he gets in ahead of Lowton. Loads of long throws that all came to nothing as they were easily defended.
Pieters- 6 unspectacular but kept his end up
Tarky - 7 one horrendous error in the first half but made some crucial blocks and interceptions.
Mee - 6 his preference for lamping it sets the tone for the rest & he is the skipper
Lennon - 4 does little wrong but simply little or no threat
Westwood - 5 in the stormy conditions looked all at sea, him and his partner should have been making themselves available for the short ball out of defence and moving it on or out wide.
Stephens - 5 as above, another relic of a bygone age
McNeil - 5 can’t work out what he is trying to do these days and he doesn’t seem to know himself. I blame the manager for this
Cornet - 5 one little trick and snap shot was one of only two on target. Too often isolated and out of the game, again looked lost as to what his role was.
Wout - 4 looked slow & ponderous and like someone who won a raffle to play in a Premier League game
JayRod- 6 looked lively and upgrade on Lennon. Was a whisker away with a glancing header in second half.

Despite the conditions, which was the same for both sides their build up play was better and their defence looked more solid too. They had a midfield that drove forward, like Burnley they just lacked that cutting edge having five efforts on target arguably they came closer to scoring and winning the game.

Sean looks like a busted flush anywhere else he would have been chopped. No goals against Newcastle Norwich or Watford tells you all you need to know and why Burnley are propping the table up. Two goals from the last seven games with a loss at home to Huddersfield thrown in. The tried and tested is no longer working but there is no plan B. It’s really sad but it looks like the EPL party is all over and the hangovers are starting to kick in. One day Sean will wake and wonder why he signed Aaron Lennon, maybe?

[superdimitri]

Pope 6
Roberts 7
Tarkowski 7
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Lennon 6
Westwood 5
Stephens 6
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5
Rodriguez 5

Watford played very well and nullified any threat we had.

[Swizzlestick]

Pope 7
Roberts 7
Tarkowski 7
Mee 7
Pieters 7
Lennon 6 ( I thought he was unlucky to be taken off)
Westwood 4
Stephens 4
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 6

I think it’s generous to say Watford played very well. We were toothless and totally lacking in midfield - we’ve know this for a while but we did precisely nothing to remedy it in the January window.

[ClaretLoup]

Watford didn’t have to play well to gain a point, that’s the worry.

[Joeandy1920]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 5
Stephens 5
McNeil 6
Cornet 6
Weghorst 6

Rodriguez 6

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Yet again another really really poor performance (after the initial 10 minutes). Perhaps there's one main denominator and that's the man who picks the team and sets the tactics

Pope 7
Roberts 5
Tarkowski 7
Mee 5
Pieters 4
Lennon 6
Westwood 3
Stephens 3
McNeil 3
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 6

We all knew our deficiencies in the centre midfield area (Jesus I'm 51 and have a quicker thought process and mobility than Stephens) but yet again we did foook all to rectify it and this area as has been the case for at least 3 years (and how many windows?) Is still Unacceptable

[maidenover]

Pope 7
Roberts 5
Tarkowski 7 MoM
Mee 5
Pieters 4
Lennon 4
Westwood 3
Stephens 3
McNeil 3
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 6

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 6
Pieters 5
Lennon 7
Westwood 6
Stephens 5
McNeil 5
Cornet 7
Weghorst 7

Rodriguez 7

[ashtonlongsider]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8*
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 5
Stephens 3
McNeil 4
Cornet 6
WW 6

Rodriguez 6

[HunterST_BFC]

Almost pointless ratings in that weather.
They all did their best

Pope
Tarks *
Westwwod
Cornet
Weghorst
All get A point higher 7
The rest 6
(And these scores feel harsh - (8's and 7's) - but honestly in that weather it was tough, you could not read where the ball would be - I thought we did well. I thought they did well. They had the better chances to pinch a goal).
MOM Tarks - he is someone we will find very hard to replace.

I'd actually have preferred both our next games to be played under those conditions. Not this one !

Watford defended deep and solid - Roy style and earned their point.
If Only we had got ahead... We'd have 3.

We'll be OK
Keep The Faith

[Luppy]

Pope - 7 - ultimately made a top class save to earn us a point. Good positioning and handling in difficult conditions

Roberts - 5 - brought us energy but little quality
Tarkowski - 7*~ best on a disappointing night.
Mee - 5 - defensively solid but distribution appalling
Pieters - 5 - see Mee - offers nothing offensively

Lennon - 4 - vital goal line clearance but offered little
Westwood - 4 - form fallen off the edge of a cliff. Ball like a hot potato at his feet
Stephens - 5 - at least tries to play football. Not every pass found it’s man but the few crisp passes to feet were made by him
McNeil - 4 - looks devoid of confidence. The criticism from the stands is growing and it showed

Weghorst - 5 - the odd decent touch but like Wood before him feeding off the crumbs that fell from the scraps. Did we put a single cross in to him all night?
Cornet - 4 - as guilty as anyone of giving the ball away cheaply

Jay Rod - 7 - probably our best player when he came on. Intelligent movement (though rarely found) linked up play well and almost found a goal out of nothing

To be fair to both sides, conditions were as appalling as you’ll see at a game and not conducive to any quality. My biggest criticism was our inability to win second ball - don’t know if they have stats on it but I’d be surprised if we won 20% of them. Watford were sharper to the ball all over the field - dire quality but more desire.

The other glaring thing is how much we miss Taylor when he’s not playing. We created nothing down the left all night

[leelad]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Stephens 5
Westwood 6
McNeil 5
Cornet 6
Weghorst 6

Jay 6

The weather spoilt the contest to be fair, I thought the wind and rain would be to Burnley's advantage. But having said that, I felt that we didn't move the ball as quickly as we could from midfield to attack. As I feared, Hodgson's appointment meant that Watford were solid and defended deep and soaked up our pressure well. Draws have become our Achilles heel now, it would be typical of Burnley to beat Man Utd, but we need a win from this game to somehow make this point a valuable one in the context of our season.

[Dark Cloud]

Pope 7 (very tough conditions for goalies)
Roberts 6
Tarks 6
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Westwood 5
Stephens 5
McNeil 5
Lennon 4
Cornet 5
WW 6

Jay 5

Conditions were awful, but we can't let that hide the fact that we never looked like scoring in 90 minutes against a, side who looked pretty poor and will almost certainly go down with us. That's all of Norwich, Newcastle and Watford who we couldn't unlock and yet people imagine we can climb out of this mess and finish above these teams. We can't. Defensively we're pretty sound and last night we kept them to barely a shot or chance, but going forward nothing is changing and we're so predictable and pedestrian and if we can't score and beat Watford then we're going to struggle to score against anyone.
Thought Cornet in particular was very disappointing last night and looked a shadow of the player we sent out to Africa. Hope that changes quickly.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Pope 6
Roberts 7
Pieters 6
Mee 6
Tarkowski 7
Lennon 4
Stephens 4
Westwood 5
McNeil 4
Cornet 4
WW

Not helped by the conditions but woeful from start to finish. Two wingers who somehow managed between them not to reach the by line all match. Some serious thought needs to be put in to the direction we are going in after this season is over.

[JohnMcGreal]

Pope 6
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 6
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 4
Stephens 4
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 5

Not good. Never really looked like scoring, again. People keep talking about must win games and that was surely one of them. Hard to see this team scoring enough goals and winning enough games to stay up now. It looks done.

[BleedingClaret]

Pope 6 kicking really poor in general and exaggerated by Typhoon Turf last night
Roberts 5 felt Lennon didn’t want the ball which put Roberts under pressure looked to be lacking in confidence
Tarkowski 5 ok but down a level from Arsenal?
Mee 6 Tried his best to get the ball forward
Pieters 6 again tried hard
Lennon 4 not at this level now little burst of pace undone by not having a clue what to do with the ball didn’t show for Roberts
Westwood 4 anonymous
Stephens 6 tried to go forward and determined there is something there
McNeil 3 weak embarrassingly one footed and the turning back is showing his limitations up the fact he’s never dropped shows up our squad weakness
Cornet 5 a little off the pace but still looks like our main threat
Weghorst 5 tried to bring the ball down and play and link up tried to win headers and tackle back little success but in horrendous weather conditions and a poor poor team around him I truly felt for him

Rodriguez 6 felt like we looked more of a threat with him on in hindsight we should have started like this

Lennon not at this level
McNeil needs dropping
I’d be interested to see a pairing of Brownhill and Stephens as Stephens had more bite than we’re used to

[burnley007]

Pope 8
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Pieters 5
Lennon 3
Westwood 4
Stephens -3
McNeil 4
Cornet 4
Weghorst 4

Rodriguez 4

[AlargeClaret]

Pope 6 -tidy , awful keeper conditions
Roberts 7 sharp and gives the right side something
Tarkowski 6 not a lot to do but very assured
Mee 6 usual dodgy error but sound otherwise
Pieters 5 little defensively but poor delivery
Lennon 5 brief glimpses but needs to be wide
Westwood 4 poor overall
Stephens 4 as per Westy
McNeil 4 invisible needs Taylor
Cornet 6 our only threat and shots on target
Weghorst 5 unfair to judge though carthorse slow .

Rodriguez 6 his movement was very good I thought , can see him working with WW

Turgid relegation stuff against an awful Watford . Need Brownhill and Taylor and let’s see what can be done

[MACCA]

Pope 7 1 very good save
Roberts 6 steady
Tarkowski 7 mom
Mee 5 wow, how man shamk to no one?
Pieters 5 as above,
Lennon 5
Westwood 5
Stephens 4 4 years too late
McNeil 4 I keep saying it, but awful, can't run, pass, neat a man or cross , however " he's one of our own" so +2
Cornet 4 wrong option took every time
Weghorst 4 welcome back Crouchy

Rodriguez 5

SD 3 I picked the team , approach and tactics in the pub at 2 o'clock.
He has no ideas, and is a dinosaur. I'll never ever boo all call for his head, but it really is time, WTF do we do Monday to Friday on the training ground?
We cannot pass a ball 20 yards

[Zenwisdom]

Pope 7
Pieters 5
Roberts 5
Mee 5
Tarks 5
Stephen’s 4
Westwood 3
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Lennon 3
W W 4
Jay 5
Sadly we did not fix the centre midfield issue
This window as most fans agree

[claretspice]

Pope - 8 - some solid saves albeit ones you’d expect him to make, and handled well in very awkward conditions.

Roberts - 6 - lively going forward and showed some intent, but I thought we missed Lowton’s superior prompting in possession. His long throw is a weapon but if we’re going to make anything of it we have to be better at winning the bits and pieces around the box.

Pieters - 5 - defended diligently enough but his use of the ball was woeful. Decent snap shot deflected wide first half.

Tarkowski - 8 - one or two sloppy passes aside, a class above everything else on the pitch.

Mee - 7 - a couple of hairy moments with dodgy touches but generally pretty steady.

Westwood - 5 - scrapped hard and showed good energy but as has been the case all season, his quality and composure in possession was sorely lacking - we veered from cautious, safe and toothless possession to hasty hopeful punts without a happy medium.

Stephens - 5 - started strongly and set the tone with some sharp distribution, but couldn’t sustain it and by the hour he was beginning to flag alarmingly.

Lennon - 5 - some bright moments but despite the space Watford afforded him it was telling that we looked more threatening down that side once he’d gone off.

McNeil - 5 - once again his general possession stats were fine, but we rarely got him the ball in areas where he could be really dangerous and when we did, a combination Watford crowding him and what is becoming an alarming lack of confidence neutralised him. Dwelt on the ball too long a couple of times but deserves some credit for trying to get the ball down amid a lack of options.

Cornet - 6 - our biggest threat with a couple of shots but that aside he wasn’t any sort of feature on our attacking game until he moved left and showed flashes of the sort of quality when driving towards goal from deep that you’d expect for a player of his technical ability. He doesn’t look comfortable battling for possession with his back to goal and it’s therefore a mystery why we persist in playing him as a second striker.

Weighorst - 5 - showed some flashes of neat link up play, intelligent movement and a sure touch, but clearly a player who thrives with direct runners getting around and beyond him, and we rarely did that. Inevitably found the physicality and pace of the premier league a culture shock and it will be some time before he offers us the sort of physical platform we need. Like many players of his height he doesn’t maximise it when jumping in the air.

Rodriguez - 6 - tough game to get into but gave us a bit more of a platform and a target for crosses.


Personally I thought Dyche got his team wrong. Starting Weighorst and Cornet as a front 2 was always likely to mean we lacked the sort of focal point we really need in attack - Cornet never looks comfortable protecting the ball with his back to goal and expecting Weighorst to provide that on debut in those conditions was wildly optimistic. As a result after an energetic start, we spent the first half having reasonable possession without ever looking like we had the quality or coherent method to get into the final third to build a telling attack, and Watford always looked the more threatening on the counter. The second half was worse until Rodriguez replaced the willing but ineffectual Lennon, and with Cornet back in his natural position and Rodriguez giving us more presence up top and a better target for crosses we showed glimpses of getting on top until we ran out of puff in the closing minutes. Had the team that finished, started we might have been better equipped.

But ultimately, this is all window dressing because there was again, a stark lack of quality in possession. Conditions didn’t help (and Weighorst deserves plenty of slack as a result) but ultimately a team which manipulates the ball this poorly is highly unlucky to get the points to stay up. We’ve played Leeds twice, Watford, Newcastle and Norwich once each, and we’ve managed 2 goals. That speaks for itself.

[bfcjg]

Pope 7 Solid in atrocious conditions.
Roberts 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 6
Pieters 4
Lennon 5 not sure why was taken off.
Westwood 4
Stephens 3
McNeil 3 time to drop him or sell him.
Cornet 4 not in game
Weghorst 5 showed some nice touches
Rodriguez 4

[ClaretPete001]

Weather terrible atmosphere initially ok but overall if you are a cup half empty type you would have seen more of the same. If you are cup half full you would have seen little to justify your views. It wasn't terrible and no one let the team down it was just a game between two teams who look like they are in the bottom 3 for a reason albeit I would guess Hodgson is the happier manager.

Pope - 8 - Solid in awkward conditions.

Roberts - 6 - lively but we missed Lowton

Pieters - 6 - defended diligently but little else. You can't help feeling a fit Charlie Taylor would have offered much more partnering Cornet

Tarkowski - 8 - Dominant and best Player on the pitch

Mee - 7 - Steady, has excellent partnership with Tarko.

Westwood - 6 - one of those player who is hard to judge because his game is work rate and press. I would worry if he wasn't there.

Stephens - 5 - I thought he gave the ball away an awful lot, which clouded my judgement. I tend to feel he is not quite right for the 4-4-2 I would guess he would feel happier playing deeper in a 4-5-1.

Lennon - 5 - Just lacks the pace, sharpness and dexterity he once had and although there is a lot of huffing and puffing it often results in less than you would expect.

McNeil - 6 - I thought he did ok but not his best game. Along with Cornet looks a quality above the other players.

Cornet - 7 - our biggest threat and played well for the first 15 mins and in patches the second half. In fact I thought it was Weighorst who looked uncomfortable in the early stages. Could easily have won it with a bit of magic but in reality left wingers do not score 6 in 10 so ........

Weghorst - 6 - For the first 15 minutes he looked a bit like Bambi after wandering onto a Rugby Union pitch. He got better and looks decent but won't score 1 / 2 in the Premiership (as he did in the Bundesliga) and I think he'll do well to be as effective as Wood was prior to this season.

[jmu1]

Grim evening. Not sure which out of the weather or our lack of creativity was most dominant
Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 7
Mee 6
Pieters 5
Lennon 6
Westwood 5
Stephen’s 6
McNeil 6
Weghorst 7
Cornet 6
JayRod 6
Would prefer to see our wide men wider

[Scott Arfield's Swag]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 7*
Mee 7
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 4
Stephens 5
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Weghorst 6

Rodriguez 6

[KlyBfc]

I think I’ve calmed down enough to make a reasonable attempt at the ratings. I will never shout for Dyche to leave… however i am now very much on the side of almost wanting him to go and that’s despite deep down knowing he’s probably our best chance to get us back up.

Pope 8
Roberts 6
Pieters 5
Tarks 8 mom
Mee 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 4
Stephens 3
McNeil 5
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5 decided to be generous as it was his debut

Jay 6

[Sproggy]

Pope 8
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 6
Pieters 4
Lennon 3
Westwood 4
Stephens 4
McNeil 3
Cornet 6
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 5

[Vintage Claret]

Pope 7 - Couple of good saves
Pieters 6
Tarks 9* -Back to his best
Mee 7
Roberts 7
McNeil 5 Looks void of confidence
Westwood 4
Stephens 4 - I was one of those who thought he should replace Cork- don't think that now
Lennon - 5 Least he tried to take a man on
Cornet 6
WW - 6

Jayrod 6

[up_the_clarets_1989]

Pope 7 A few good saves and confident as always coming for the ball. His kicking drives me mad. Weather obviously didn’t help yesterday but it’s the same every week.

Roberts 6 Decent defensively but thought he was poor going forward.
Tarky 8 Thought he was superb.
Mee 6 Defensively solid but I just can’t believe how bad he is at passing a ball. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always so nervous when the ball comes to him whether he’s under pressure or not.
Pieters 6 Needed more positivity from him.

Stephens 5 Thought he tried hard but he’s clearly not good enough.
Westwood 6
McNeil 5 I’d happily chair the McNeil fan club but I can’t find any positives from that.
Lennon 5

Cornet 5
Wout 5

Thought we really missed Taylor today. Think we are probably doomed, but got to have some faith with Wout and Cornet upfront. Obviously not good enough last night but surely they have what it takes to form a really good partnership.

[claretburns]

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 6
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Lennon 5
Westwood 5
Stephens 4
McNeil 3 (If 0's were allowed he'd be getting one, an abysmal performance)
Cornet 6
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 5

[strayclaret]

Pope 7
Roberts 7
Tarks 7
Mee 6
Pieters 6
McNeil 4
Westwood 5
Stephens 5
Lennon 5
Cornet 6
Wout 6

Jay 6
Watford coped better with the conditions in what was a very disappointing evening

[ClaretTony]

I've taken some time to decide on my ratings. I didn't want another knee jerk reaction that saw me mark unfairly at Leeds and I have taken time to consider the awful conditions so they may appear high marks to some people.

Pope 7
Roberts 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 7
Pieters 6
Lennon 6
Westwood 5
Stephens 6
McNeil 4
Cornet 5
Weghorst 5

Rodriguez 6

[bfcmik]

Pope 7
Roberts 5
Tarkowski 7
Mee 6
Pieters 6
Lennon 6 (including 1 for the goal-line stop)
Westwood 6
Stephens 6
McNeil 4
Cornet 6
Weghorst 6

Rodriguez 5

[JohnMac]

Pope 7 - Simply brilliant save from the header but once again his kicking is atrocious at times.
Roberts 6 - Apart from his long throw in, does he actually bring anything to the game? His very few attempts at crossing were very poor.
Tarkowski - 8* MOM - Another good performance from the player some think does not care!
Mee 7 - Steady performance
Pieters 7 - Did okay
McNeil 6 - Get this lad on the left crossing the ball, anywhere else doing anything different is pure fantasy.
Stephens 6 - Not for me this player, seems to think he is a bit special.
Westwood 6 - I'm not sure he can do anything else in this poor set up
Lennon 6 - Has been labotomised by Dyche's sideways, backwards and track back football.
Cornet 6 - Never stopped but can't do it on his own every time.
Weghorst 6 - More to come from this lad hopefully. Not the easiest debut but in those conditions certainly one he probably won't forget.

Rodriguez 6 - I think he is best in a more central role.

[Stalbansclaret]

Pope 7
Roberts 5
Tarkowski 9
Mee 6
Pieters 6
McNeil 5
Stephens 5
Westwood 5
Lennon 5
Cornet 6
Weghorst 5

[jojomk1]

Pope 7 - Simply brilliant save from the header but once again his kicking is atrocious at times.
Roberts 6 - Apart from his long throw in, does he actually bring anything to the game? His very few attempts at crossing were very poor.
Tarkowski - 8* MOM - Another good performance from the player some think does not care!
Mee 7 - Steady performance
Pieters 7 - Did okay
McNeil 6 - Get this lad on the left crossing the ball, anywhere else doing anything different is pure fantasy.
Stephens 6 - Not for me this player, seems to think he is a bit special.
Westwood 6 - I'm not sure he can do anything else in this poor set up
Lennon 6 - Has been labotomised by Dyche's sideways, backwards and track back football.
Cornet 6 - Never stopped but can't do it on his own every time.
Weghorst 6 - More to come from this lad hopefully. Not the easiest debut but in those conditions certainly one he probably won't forget.

Rodriguez 6 - I think he is best in a more central role.

Lennon - lobotomized ?

No wonder he walks with duck feet and a funny smirk on his face

[AlargeClaret]

I forgot the pillow from my ratings

Pillow 5 - good early movement but quickly snuffed out

[the_magic_rat]

Pope 7

Roberts 7
Tarkowski 9
Mee 7
Pieters 6

McNeil 6
Westwood 5
Stephens 5
Lennon 6

Cornet 6
Weghorst 6

Rodriguez 6

[nil_desperandum]

Almost pointless ratings in that weather.
They all did their best

MOM Tarks - he is someone we will find very hard to replace.

I'd actually have preferred both our next games to be played under those conditions. Not this one !

Watford defended deep and solid - Roy style and earned their point.
If Only we had got ahead... We'd have 3.

I don't do player ratings, but these were the points that I also took from the game.
They're not excuses for a poor performance, but the weather and the Hodgson factor had a massive influence on the result.
Roy always bases his success on getting the defensive basics correct, and he set-up to try to get that elusive clean-sheet. We had no answer and the appalling conditions didn't help. Those conditions are a great leveller, -more of the same for our next 2 games please.
I am of the opinion that we would have won had Ranieri still been in charge.