Something I’m afraid Roy would never consider. I would have started Schlupp left, Townsend right, Benteke up the middle and Eze playing where he should be, off of and slightly behind Benteke. With Wilf out that would have given us more balance and added a bit of steel in the air, so that we didn’t just have the ball coming back at us every time the ball went forward above chest height.

In such a format who you pick as the supporting central midfielders is pretty much up for grabs however given the way we know how Burnley were going to play I would probably have stuck with Riedewald and McArthur (maybe bringing Cahill back into CH and Kouyate stepping up to take McArthur’s role as an alternative).

My main point is that Burnley knew exactly what we were going to do and out played us, out muscled us and sat back once they scored playing on the knowledge our standard one dimensional style of attacking was not good enough to break them down.

Yes we had a few decent chances, but so did they. I am of the opinion we didn’t deserve any more than we took from that game. What I will say however is that the overall performance was better than in the Chelsea and Brighton games even though we picked up a fortuitous point against the weed.

Anyway, bring on the Newcastle match and let’s see if there are any tactical changes made to how we set up and the personnel used in Wilf’s absence.

I didn't think we were that bad. You have to accept that adapting to life without Zaha would take time. But no reason we couldn't.

The main thing for me was that Clyne looked very decent on the ball and okay without it.

Townsend was abject. He did one pass that was so awful he held his hand up in apology for 20 seconds.

Burnley were always going to be bang up for last night and so it proved. When they have their first choice defence fully match fit, they are without question a tough nut to crack.

And so it proved.

we didn't look too bad until we got to the final third then we didn't quite click, poor choices, over-hit passes etc Ayew was unusually poor, Andros was appalling, he's OK but is quite predictable as an out and out winger, he'd be better as a wing back but we don't play that way, I've been a bit anti-McArthur not out of opinionatedness, I just think he belongs in the championship now helping a team like Sheffield Wednesday or Birmingham, very little attacking threat and gave the ball away at crucial times. It's no disgrace to lose at Burnley, they do what they do very well, and we probably deserved a point, but Pope is a bit good. I hope we can get safe asap and go for a cup run otherwise it will be as boring a season as the last one. Contracts are up in the summer so I'm looking forward to a shake up, I think we need a new midfield, keep Reidewald all the others can foxtrot oscar - we are crying out for what Loftus Cheek gave us a couple of seasons back, mind you we played through the park quite well yesterday, but Burnley shut us out when we got close extremely well.

Whose the manager
who picks the team
who decides on the tactics and formation
who puts square pegs in Round holes?
Kouyate was a stop gap centre pack, why is he still there, very questionable defending and easy for the opposition to see his weaknesses, ball watching, no strong defensive header and lack of defensive positioning...

oh yes and what tactical changes did Roy do during the match??