Opinion: Burnley missing same ingredient vs Bournemouth despite improved offering

Forget about the fight for survival for a second, heading into Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, Burnley’s first priority was to put things right, show some fight and get back to being competitive as a bare minimum. In that regard: objective achieved.

But despite an improved performance, it wasn’t wasn’t enough to appease the restless natives, left frustrated by yet another home game without a win.

Therein lies the problem. For all the talk of a better performance, some guts and desire, chances created, a rare clean sheet and so on and so on, Burnley leave with just a point. A point that does very little, if anything, for their survival chances.

Results dictate everything. For supporters, they don’t particularly want to hear about culture, players sticking together, being competitive – true or otherwise – when their team has won one league game in 21, are about to suffer a third straight relegation from the Premier League and, at the same time, are breaking unwanted records in the process.

That record in question being 11 consecutive home league games without a win, something the club had – up until this season – never endured in its 144-year history.

There are numerous factors behind Burnley’s failings this season, perhaps too many to mention at this particular moment in time, but their record at Turf Moor is perhaps their biggest one.

To put it into context, fellow newly-promoted side Leeds United have double the amount of points on home turf than Burnley have this season. Sunderland, meanwhile, boast the sixth best home record in the Premier League. The Clarets? 19th. Only Tottenham have claimed fewer points on their own ground, meaning even Wolves have fared better.

At the time of writing, Leeds have claimed the same amount of points on their travels as Burnley: nine. Sunderland haven’t been much better away from home either, so it’s at Turf Moor where Scott Parker’s side have badly let themselves down.

And yet, this encounter wasn’t one of those occasions, because Burnley did well. They battled and, on another day, could have easily come away with the three points.

They survived a nervy opening 10 minutes where they failed to deal with Bournemouth’s aggressive press and were fortunate to come away unscathed from one or two hairy moments, the most obvious one being Bashir Humphreys blocking on the goalline after Evanilson had rounded Martin Dubravka.

But the hosts slowly but surely grew into the game to a point where they gradually took over, penning the Cherries back into their own half.

Some good openings came their way too, Jaidon Anthony – clearly fired up to impress against his former employers – coming close with two copycat efforts, where he cut inside from the left flank to curl threatening efforts towards goal.

Zian Flemming was also denied with an ambitious effort from a tight angle, before Lyle Foster wasted a big chance after Flemming had cut the ball back to him, albeit the pass was behind him and made life difficult for the forward. Bashir Humphreys also threatened at the back post from a corner.

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But the biggest chance of the half came from that man Anthony, who was Burnley’s best performer on the day, closely followed by Hannibal.

A trademark James Ward-Prowse beat everyone in a crowded centre to pick out the wide man, who drifted unopposed towards the back post, gifting him a side-footed effort from close range. Anthony made sweet contact, perhaps too good a contact, and saw his shot crash off the crossbar and away to safety.

The second-half, by comparison, was something of a tame affair, with neither side able to find that breakthrough.

The Cherries ended the game on top and Burnley again had to survive one or two hairy moments, but it would have been harsh on them - but perhaps typical of this miserable season - had they lost it with a last-gasp suckerpunch. They deserved a point for their efforts.

Alas, the Clarets were left to rue a big missed opportunity. While Bournemouth are obviously a good side with some talented players – there’s a reason why they’re unbeaten in 10 and are in the fight for a European place – they weren’t particularly impressive on the day and you felt this was a game Burnley could go on and win.

That was perhaps the most galling thing for Burnley fans, who were left to question why their side didn’t throw the kitchen sink during the final stages. What have they got to lose?

Changes came and went, but they were all like-for-like. Would it have hurt to keep Zian Flemming, the club’s top goalscorer, on alongside Armando Broja? Or, assuming the Dutchman wasn’t fit enough to complete the 90 minutes on his return from injury, why not throw Ashley Barnes into the mix?

Instead, Burnley looked lethargic and tired and were forced to hold on in a game they simply had to win. Thanks to recency bias, that’s what sticks in supporters’ minds.

But, in isolation, this was a good performance from Burnley. They didn’t do enough to get the three points, but it wasn’t down to a lack of effort or application. As usual, they just didn’t have the quality, and for all the hot takes, all the debates, all the opinion pieces, that’s been the overriding story of the season.

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