Opinion: Sean Dyche & Everton teach Burnley a trick or two, but the real lesson is even more startling

It was the old dog that came out on top in this old vs new matchup, in what was Dyche’s first meeting with Burnley since his memorable 10-year spell was brought to an end in April 2022.

There’s plenty to be said for Dyche’s experience at the top level, his know-how and nous in grinding out results and how the Clarets are badly lacking those qualities at this moment in time. But that wasn’t necessarily the story of the night.

Instead, it was another one-sided defeat, this time in the cup, where Burnley continued to look off the pace against a side dubbed by many to be in the relegation frame come the end of the season.

Still a long way to go

After the game, Kompany was at pains to point out his Burnley side are still on a journey to “level up” following last season’s promotion.

He’s not wrong, but at what point do you begin to worry about the lack of progress? The Clarets are in the midst of a supposedly kinder run of games, albeit one was in the cup, against Brentford, Bournemouth and Everton respectively, and yet they’ve lost all three, shipped eight goals and scored just once.

Burnley’s defensive woes are clear as day, but what’s also of concern is their lack of goal threat at the other end – a completely unwanted combination if I’ve ever seen one.

Against Everton, their Expected Goals (xG) was just 0.07, compared to the home side’s 2.16. That’s pitiful.

And this was a game, or for a half of it at least, where Burnley looked a little bit better. They were passing the ball with more zip and looked dangerous when entering Everton’s final third during the opening 45 minutes. But nothing of any meaningful quality arrived in the decisive moments.

We all know the gap between the Premier League and the Championship is sizeable and looks to be growing season upon season. But at what about does the ‘journey’ Kompany keeps referring to speed up?

Arsenal aside, Burnley’s upcoming schedule presents more games where, on paper at least, you’d like to think they have a chance of picking up some points (Crystal Palace, West Ham, Sheffield United, Wolves and so on).

But the most worrying takeaway from Burnley’s results since their return from the October international break is just how far away they’ve been against the sides who are supposedly expected to be in and around them in the league table.

They were convincingly beaten 3-0 by Brentford and it could have been worse. The scoreline and late VAR drama against Bournemouth suggests it was a close encounter but the overall performance, the second-half especially, was still nowhere near the standard required. And against Everton in the cup, it was all comfortable and routine for a side that, while improved, still sit 15th in the table.

Defensive woes

What was most frustrating was the soft nature of Everton’s goals, they weren’t made to work hard for them at all.

The first was a fairly routine cross into the box that Burnley failed to deal with, allowing the unmarked Tarkowski the time and space to head towards goal. It was an opportunity he was only too happy to capitalise on.

Once his header flew into the top corner, his celebration was muted. The same can’t be said for McNeil who instantly turned around and taunted the away fans, having taken some surprising and unwarranted stick during the opening exchanges of the game.

To their credit, Burnley responded well to the early setback and in terms of general play, were the better side for the remainder of their half.

They enjoyed some good spells and for a while you’d be forgiven for thinking the Burnley of last season was back with their slick play through the thirds, aided by the pinpoint, press-splitting passes from stand-in keeper Arijanet Muric.

Everything he did was greeted by loud chants of “Muric, Muric” from the Burnley faithful. It’s clear who they want to see in-between the sticks against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Despite the scoreline, the Kosovan’s display was one of very few positives from the night. Sander Berge can also hold his head high.

But any hope of getting back in the game was distinguished early in the second-half when Amadou Onana had the simple task of tapping home from close range after the Clarets had failed to deal with a deep corner. Tarkowski was again involved, heading the ball back across the face of goal for his teammate to scramble home.

The remainder of the game was a non-contest. Everton allowed the visitors to have the ball but their threat was non-existent. Anything good from the first-half completely disappeared in the second.

Dyche’s side kept them at arm’s length with ease while looking to pick off their beleaguered opponents on the break. Chances to add a third came and went before Ashley Young did exactly that at the death, racing into the six-yard box to meet a pullback from the byline.

What next?

Once again Burnley could have no complaints with the result. They had been convincingly beaten by the better side.

Now we’re left to reflect on where the Clarets go from here. There is no obvious solution, no magic wand. There aren’t the players at Kompany’s disposal to play a different style and besides, ripping up the playbook and going with a completely different approach would be a foolish strategy anyway.

Kompany is committed to his plan and we all just have to patiently wait for the first shoots of life. But the concern is we’re in November now and the progress so far just hasn’t materialised at all.