Dan Burn

[TRon]

4 hours ago, LFEE said:

No he wasn’t. He was excellent at LB barring a few games. Also allowed us to convert to 3 at the back most games with Trippier adding a man into midfield and help with our suffocating press which we sorely miss nowadays.

 

Such short memories some people …

 

Yeah he was defensively very solid at LB for us, only issues was when he got exposed high up the pitch against a pacy forward who got in  behind him, but that didn't happen very often. He was ok going forward as well to a point, obviously not going to provide the quality you get from someone like Hall but then he's probably more solid defensively.

[Andy]

1 hour ago, Pata said:

 

Aye, history is been re-written here regarding last season. He only had like 3 'bad' games around Christmas and was very solid otherwise even at LB. 

 

Disagree with this personally. He got rinsed time and time again last season, hence people clamouring for Hall at left back. He was good at LB the season before but lost a yard of pace between seasons.  

[80]

21 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

Disagree with this personally. He got rinsed time and time again last season, hence people clamouring for Hall at left back. He was good at LB the season before but lost a yard of pace between seasons.  

Yes. He finished the season better once he got shifted to centre back for the final games, which he said he was happy to be back in.

 

He'd not really been there since the beginning of the season - after Brighton away, the received wisdom on here was he couldn't be allowed to play centre back again and it was LB or nothing...

[Nine]

2 hours ago, Andy said:

 

Disagree with this personally. He got rinsed time and time again last season, hence people clamouring for Hall at left back. He was good at LB the season before but lost a yard of pace between seasons.  

There isn’t much chance he lost that much pace over a single summer.

 

It was far more to do with Popes injury and not being protected by Joelinton on that side, and being a mainstay in a largely unchanged back 4 for 22/23.

 

Edit: something I forgot to add that others have mentioned, the back injury was a massive part in him looking like he’d lost something physically.

 

 

Edited Monday at 18:17 by Nine

[Andy]

14 minutes ago, Nine said:

There isn’t much chance he lost that much pace over a single summer.

 

I agree there were other factors, but I definitely think he lost a yard of recovery pace between the end of 22/23 and January 24. He was never exactly quick to begin with mind.

 

I didn't say it happened entirely over the summer, but recovery from pre season is where age tends to take its toll. 

[80]

It's probably more on point to say his agility, rather than strictly pace. Everything ended up looking like an effort for him. He was playing with a not fully recovered broken back for a decent portion so it would be a bit weird if he was as nimble as he always was.

[Nine]

3 minutes ago, 80 said:

It's probably more on point to say his agility, rather than strictly pace. Everything ended up looking like an effort for him. He was playing with a not fully recovered broken back for a decent portion so it would be a bit weird if he was as nimble as he always was.

This is a fair point, when you consider his size also. Not an easy injury to recover from. 

[Checko]

Burn's been a great signing and always been a solid, reliable defender. At the end of a day he was a 6' 7" 30 something CB playing LB against a load of super quick, skillful premier league wingers. He was always at a massive speed and agility disadvantage there but the fact he managed it successfully for so long is a testament to him actually being a good defender.

 

Speed is something you can lose quickly as you age, but you also lose it quickly (at least in the short term) if you're detrained, and he really struggled after he came back fairly early from a few months out with stress fracture in his back, where he presumably hadn't been able to do much running. It's hardly surprising he'd lost half a step at that point. Given he was just about holding on before with his size that was enough though.

 

It's a shame he started getting so much stick, when Eddie probably should have realised it wasn't working any more and switched things sooner. There was also the frustration with Hall not being given a shot and Burn seemed to bear the brunt of a lot of that. But when he went back to CB again last year, most people were like, 'oh yeah he's actually a very solid defender'.

 

He'll turn 33 at the end of this season so he's obviously not a long-term solution, but if he's having to come on and cover at CB next year then I'm not worried about him playing cause he's solid.

[Tsunami]

There was a run of games where he got targeted at LB to expose his pace and to get him isolated. Elanga for Forest was one of those games. Be was given no protection whatsoever.

[The Fountain]

The first 20 minutes of games he plays at left back are the scariest. After that he seems to grow into games.

[olliemort]

19 hours ago, SteV said:

He did alright against a pace merchant on Saturday…

 

Obviously everyone wants and expects Botman to come back in though. But people need to be patient. It won’t just be a case of ‘right Botman’s fit again, he plays every game’.
 

Alas, he’ll play 90 mins against Bromley then everyone will twist like fuck when he’s back on the bench against Wolves three days later.

Against Leicester? The striker has to get the ball man tbf. It’s no doubt in every game he was being targeted, obvious as fuck and will happen again. I don’t mind him he’s solid in some games and Eddie did him no favours continually picking him at left back where he was getting rinsed nearly every game. Fine back up centre back but we need to be looking at upgrading that position unless hopefully botman can come back from injury and rediscover his form 

[olliemort]

16 hours ago, Pata said:

 

These must be really rare nowadays as I can't really remember any mares.

 

Sometimes attackers go past defenders, doesn't mean anyone Isak has skinned is garbage.

He’s in centre back now , not as exposed there with his lack of pace. Something still not talked about that much what a good centre back schar is. Burn has done well there tbh most games but he still looks shaky . Good cover for centre backs but that’s it for me really

[Crimson Cardigan]

12 minutes ago, olliemort said:

He’s in centre back now , not as exposed there with his lack of pace. Something still not talked about that much what a good centre back schar is. Burn has done well there tbh most games but he still looks shaky . Good cover for centre backs but that’s it for me really

I think Burn has been better defensively than Schar this season, medium term they both need replacing, but I’d be more than happy if they stick around to deputise Botman and new RCB.

[SteV]

42 minutes ago, olliemort said:

Against Leicester? The striker has to get the ball man tbf. It’s no doubt in every game he was being targeted, obvious as fuck and will happen again. I don’t mind him he’s solid in some games and Eddie did him no favours continually picking him at left back where he was getting rinsed nearly every game. Fine back up centre back but we need to be looking at upgrading that position unless hopefully botman can come back from injury and rediscover his form 

Botman will come back and, eventually, regain his place. And Burn is a more than adequate back-up.

 

Bit of a wild take to claim he was “getting rinsed nearly every game” at left back. He had a period around February time where he struggled badly, but easy to forget he played left-back against PSG, directly up against Dembele, arguably the quickest about, and was great.

[Rod]

33 minutes ago, SteV said:

Botman will come back and, eventually, regain his place. And Burn is a more than adequate back-up.

 

Bit of a wild take to claim he was “getting rinsed nearly every game” at left back. He had a period around February time where he struggled badly, but easy to forget he played left-back against PSG, directly up against Dembele, arguably the quickest about, and was great.

Totally agree.  Saying he was "getting rinsed nearly every game" is an outright lie.

[JEToon]

1 hour ago, Crimson Cardigan said:

I think Burn has been better defensively than Schar this season, medium term they both need replacing, but I’d be more than happy if they stick around to deputise Botman and new RCB.

 

I don't even think it is that close and I like Schar, but it feels like if Burn was playing like Schar has this season he would be getting absolute dogs abuse like 

[STM]

5 minutes ago, JEToon said:

 

I don't even think it is that close and I like Schar, but it feels like if Burn was playing like Schar has this season he would be getting absolute dogs abuse like 

 

Bingo.

 

I absolutely adore Schar but he's been a weak link. Perhaps it's just temporary but I'm not willing for us to find out. We need a new CB in the next 2 transfer windows.

[Andy]

1 hour ago, Rod said:

Totally agree.  Saying he was "getting rinsed nearly every game" is an outright lie.

 

He was getting rinsed often enough for it to be a constant cause of debate on here. Wouldn't take much effort to look back and find the posts. 

 

It's certainly no more questionable than pretending he was solid at left back for the majority of last season, when he played there. The reality might sit somewhere in between, but he was certainly poor in the position as often as he was good, which is below the standard you'd expect of a premier league left back. 

[The College Dropout]

16 hours ago, Tsunami said:

There was a run of games where he got targeted at LB to expose his pace and to get him isolated. Elanga for Forest was one of those games. Be was given no protection whatsoever.

He was getting targeted and bullied at LB for a good stretch.

 

That period after Joelinton got injured was super bad.

 

Agreed Schar has often been poor this season. Worse than Burn defensively for sure.

 

Schar has played A LOT of football in recent years mind. Throw in international football. You think that might not impact a CB but it's a lot mentally too.

[olliemort]

2 hours ago, Rod said:

Totally agree.  Saying he was "getting rinsed nearly every game" is an outright lie.

He absolutely was “getting rinsed” for months and more than me was freaking out about it. It was obvious every game he was being targeted and he struggled badly at that time. I was at the matches and fans were fuming at Howe for starting him and leaving him on! 

[Smal]

Burn certainly became a scapegoat but that’s not the same as him getting rinsed every game, which definitely isn’t an idea based in reality.

[Andy]

2 hours ago, Smal said:

Burn certainly became a scapegoat but that’s not the same as him getting rinsed every game, which definitely isn’t an idea based in reality.

 

I'm not sure why there's a need to even retread this ground tbh, but the majority of this forum, and people in the stands, wanted someone else at left back last season. I'd hazard a guess that even Burn himself would say he wasn't having a great time there.

 

Much like Longstaff at times, he wasn't "scapegoated", he was struggling. For some reason when it's a Geordie lad, valid criticism becomes scapegoating.  

 

He was good in that role the season before, but to me, the only rewriting of history is coming from people who are now acting like he was assured there last season.

 

There was a period where the opposition were consciously targeting his side of the pitch week in week out and getting a lot of joy from it. It only really stopped when Tino went to left back for a spell. 

 

He's been pretty solid this season at CB. However, I couldn't think of anything worse than him going back to left back for a sustained period. 

 

The difference in having Hall there should be an obvious enough contrast. 

[LFEE]

9 hours ago, Rod said:

Totally agree.  Saying he was "getting rinsed nearly every game" is an outright lie.

Yep. Total fiction. Had 3 hard games against Forest and Luton and Bournemouth at home if I recall. In general in was very solid. Agree with comment made about him taking 20mins to settled down when he played LB.

 

 

[olliemort]

17 minutes ago, LFEE said:

Yep. Total fiction. Had 3 hard games against Forest and Luton and Bournemouth at home if I recall. In general in was very solid. Agree with comment made about him taking 20mins to settled down when he played LB.

 

24 minutes ago, LFEE said:

Yep. Total fiction. Had 3 hard games against Forest and Luton and Bournemouth at home if I recall. In general in was very solid. Agree with comment made about him taking 20mins to settled down when he played LB.

 

 

Everyone could see he was absolutely dreadful at left-back. Those three games you mentioned weren’t just bad; he got absolutely roasted. Honestly, it was painful to watch—I actually felt sorry for him. Ogbene for Luton looked like prime Eden Hazard out there! You can clearly see how much more solid we’ve been down that side since the switch was made.