England’s Dan Burn

[Holmesy]

8 minutes ago, Newcastle Fan said:

He's a really weird one, you don't want him to be playing but you also don't want to be playing without him

No room for sentiment if we aim to compete for top honours. I think we’ll see very quickly how much more dynamic we can be as a team when he’s replaced by a proper full back. 
 

[black_n_white]

Great defending and good off the ball positioning, terrible with the ball tonight though.

[TBG]

Needs to be shown his place is guaranteed.

 

Start Dummett on Sunday.

[gbandit]

Really think we’ll look a different side once we have Hall in and match fit. We are so hampered in developing attacks down our left side. It’ll be transformative when Hall is up to speed

[Gallowgate Toon]

Another game where you see the absolute worst and best in him 

 

[gbandit]

Just now, Gallowgate Toon said:

Another game where you see the absolute worst and best in him 

 

He’s so far away from being an LB, he’s a great option behind Botman if Botman picks up an injury at CB

[TRon]

45 minutes ago, 54 said:

Was a fucking rock today. 

 

Which is fine if you are parking the bus Bruce style. Going the other way, he's a liability.

[Beth]

It's a pity Targett has gone off a cliff since his injury, Hall is too raw imo.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Beth

[nemtizz]

£35m on a player that is too raw is crazy.

[pubteam]

11 minutes ago, gbandit said:

He’s so far away from being an LB, he’s a great option behind Botman if Botman picks up an injury at CB

Couldn't agree more, if we ever want to play free flowing football he needs to go from left back. 

[andycap]

The amount of unforced errors this lad has in his locker is astounding. We are comfortable knocking a ball about the backline then he underhits a basic pass to botman which starts a panic in our defence. I bet you botman is bad with his nerves ? 

[The College Dropout]

Rinsed by Chukwueze again and again. Didn’t stop any crosses coming in. Passing was absolutely awful.  
 

But he was crucial defensively at times. And I think he got his head onto every set piece. 

[Erikse]

Dan Burn has featured in every single league game since joining us except for the first one vs Everton right after he joined, meaning 59 games in a row. He has started 56 of them.

 

And for those who thinks his main position is left back: he has played 317 games at centre back (21 with us) and just 90 as a left back (44 of them with us). So basically he has only featured in 46 games as a left back in his entire carreer before joining us.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Erikse

[Gawalls]

On 19/09/2023 at 19:57, pubteam said:

I find it quite strange that we spent nearly £70 million on fullbacks and Dan Burn still starts every game. He really should defensive backup, not our starting left back.

This gets me as well - as much as I love Howe it does seem he’s allergic to rotation and change at times.

[Gawalls]

On 19/09/2023 at 20:58, The College Dropout said:

Rinsed by Chukwueze again and again. Didn’t stop any crosses coming in. Passing was absolutely awful.  
 

But he was crucial defensively at times. And I think he got his head onto every set piece. 

It also seems every team sets up to target him as well now.

[GEFAFWISP]

3 hours ago, Gawalls said:

It also seems every team sets up to target him as well now.

Not even sure it's a conscious effort some of the time, more teams finding the path of least resistance to creating chances by attacking our left hand side. Bit of both really to me but it's clear they get less change out of Trippier/Almiron or Murphy than Burn/Gordon or Barnes.

[Coffee_Johnny]

On 19/09/2023 at 19:57, pubteam said:

I find it quite strange that we spent nearly £70 million on fullbacks and Dan Burn still starts every game. He really should defensive backup, not our starting left back.

[Yorkie]

I love Burn, like. I don't really agree with the 'CB playing at LB' assessment any more. What's the role of a full-back? To defend the wide areas and then to support the attack by providing an option on the deck; to do overlapping and inside runs; to make through balls; to get to the byline and to make crosses. He does these things, just with much less emphasis on crossing. His passing ability is sometimes left wanting because it isn't his strength. He's definitely a full-back though, just not a complete footballer. He could play that position for most teams in the league. 

 

The fact he has fully transitioned there is actually a problem for us though. If the Brighton game is anything to go by then he is categorically not at the standard we need our third choice CB to be. 

[Fezzle]

43 minutes ago, GEFAFWISP said:

Not even sure it's a conscious effort some of the time, more teams finding the path of least resistance to creating chances by attacking our left hand side. Bit of both really to me but it's clear they get less change out of Trippier/Almiron or Murphy than Burn/Gordon or Barnes.

It's abundantly clear they do target him, I'd have serious doubts if they didn't. Howes only blind spot in my eyes, obviously not helped by targets injury/lack of form 

[GEFAFWISP]

1 hour ago, Fezzle said:

It's abundantly clear they do target him, I'd have serious doubts if they didn't. Howes only blind spot in my eyes, obviously not helped by targets injury/lack of form 

Yes but how they arrive at targeting him is the point I was sort of making. His defensive contributions sort of balance out his on the ball shortcomings most of the time, but I'm sure we'll see a marked improvement in our attacking patterns down the left if we have a more athletic, technical LB instead, whether that's Howe trusting Hall or shifting Livramento over there.

[The College Dropout]

4 hours ago, Yorkie said:

I love Burn, like. I don't really agree with the 'CB playing at LB' assessment any more. What's the role of a full-back? To defend the wide areas and then to support the attack by providing an option on the deck; to do overlapping and inside runs; to make through balls; to get to the byline and to make crosses. He does these things, just with much less emphasis on crossing. His passing ability is sometimes left wanting because it isn't his strength. He's definitely a full-back though, just not a complete footballer. He could play that position for most teams in the league. 

 

The fact he has fully transitioned there is actually a problem for us though. If the Brighton game is anything to go by then he is categorically not at the standard we need our third choice CB to be. 

 

He’s targeted defensively one on one and that’s a massive weakness of his. And he’s totally ignored by opposition (and some of our own players) when in attacking positions. And his distribution is sometimes poor. 
 

He’s great at centre back things (for a fullback) like defending the box, fully committed and he gets his head on a lot of set pieces. But he’s not a good centre back (for a team with ambitions of playing in the CL consistently) Ben White, Gvardiol, Ake, Akanji - these all play fullback for their clubs. But they are genuine class CBs. Ake is one of the reasons Botman barely has an international cap.  He’s an almost top level CB and uses those skills at FB.  Burn is a limited CB who is an even more limited FB.  
 

I like Burns profile as a fullback.  The 2 best teams in the country play with players of that profile. Real Madrid won the CL with a ‘stay at home’ FB in Mendy. The problem is he’s not that good at it. Defensively and offensively. 
 

He still brings a lot to the team.  I’ve assumed Sheff like to play direct and will be a threat on set pieces so Burn will be very useful there. But I’d like to see Hall play and maybe even invert into midfield. Play passes into the CMs pushing up and the attacking players in dangerous positions. 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by The College Dropout

[The College Dropout]

To Burns credit. Those other players I’ve named often look awkward themselves at fullback at times too. But they are also better athletes and defenders in general. 

[Miercoles]

Carried that defender all the way across the box for his goal 

[Conjo]

23 minutes ago, Miercoles said:

Carried that defender all the way across the box for his goal 

 

Mentioned it already in match thread and Gordon thread, but he was integral for Gordons goal as well with his run that pulled the player who was best positioned to block Gordons shot out of position.

 

Edit: and he started the move for Wilsons goal.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Conjo

[andycap]

He played well today, they stood off him so his passing didn't go wayward.