Burnley are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by goalkeeper Nick Pope in the one nil victory over Southampton at the weekend at St Mary’s Stadium was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Pope as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘Nick Pope’s save from Southampton’s Sofiane Boufal wasn’t bad, and his dive to his right to stop a certain goal from Nathan Redmond was very impressive. However, it was his push over the bar from a super strike from Maya Yoshida that was the match-saver for Burnley, at a time when I thought they were taking a bit of a hammering. Pope has done brilliantly for the Clarets since he took over from the injured Tom Heaton. Not only did he keep his team in the game against Southampton but he provided them with a platform to go on and win it. The victory has also put his manager, the much-talked-about Sean Dyche, in a very strong position. In five years, Dyche has turned this famous old club into a Premier League outfit and done it on buttons. Why a bigger club (sorry Burnley) haven’t come in for him I can’t say, but what exactly are Everton waiting for? In the absence of other exotic managers, Dyche fits the Everton job specification perfectly. An English manager with suitable Premier League experience, can work to a budget, a good record in the transfer market and can spot a player. What else do Everton want? I have a lot of time for David Unsworth but the Premier League is not a job centre looking for worthy applicants or, worse, Opportunity Knocks. Would-be candidates should have a track record or have something to show that they can at least do the job. If Everton want to give Unsworth a crack then that’s fine, but the new owner needs to understand this is Everton and not Melchester Rovers.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to Pope for his recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.
Full Team:
Nick Pope (Burnley), Steve Cook (Bournemouth), Shane Duffy (Brighton), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Rajiv van La Parra (Huddersfield Town), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Alvaro Morata (Chelsea), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City).
Well done Pope, I can only agree with GC on his choice. However, I could not disagree more with him about SD and Everton. Their obvious priority is Prem survival, Big Sam is tailor made for that job, whereas SD is a long term planner who on his own words loves spotting talent and developing it. Everton will be looking for silverware if they survive and will use their spending power to buy ready made players, again not SD’s scene. I see Everton as a potential Sunderland and the Clarets as a potential Premier League force to be reckoned with. I remember another young much vaunted manager of ours who left for greener pastures in the middle of the season and is now managing an obscure Scottish team and the team he left us for in the doldrums. Lesson to be learned?
Pope in Team of the week. My worries about Tom being out have been unfounded. Im pleased to say.
Well done Nick.