Barnes develops perfect fit with Burnley’s style
The experienced striker might score the goals, but he also epitomises Dyche’s collective ethos
Only Sadio Mane and Sergio Aguero have scored more Premier League goals this year than Ashley Barnes, Burnley’s no-nonsense centre-forward who personifies the sort of footballer Sean Dyche admires.
Burnley’s style of play is not always the sexiest, but Dyche is a far savvier tactician than given credit for and Barnes much more than a battering ram. By playing to his and their strengths, Burnley have taken four points from three games, with Barnes scoring four of their five goals. On form he is one of the best strikers in the league, having developed from non-league to signing for Burnley in 2014.
“You have to remember we got him when I spent zero money in a year!” Dyche tells The Daily Telegraph. “He’s a player I’d liked a long time. We paid the princely
sum of something like £450,000 for him and he’s a player I thought could improve. I liked his background, liked that he’d had to work hard at Brighton to find his way to a good level, and we felt he could take that level forward and he has done that.
“And that’s more credit to him than me. We give the players the platform to improve, but it’s down to them to use that platform to take on that improvement. He deserves massive credit for that.”
Barnes, who scored 12 league goals last season, is now 29, theoretically, a striker’s peak age and playing like it, not simply a target for long passes from the back but involved constantly, dropping deep to link play and pulling out wide. He is a crucial cog in the Burnley machine.
“You can never quite define the mixture,” says Dyche. “You know all these players have helped Burnley improve and he’s certainly part of that, but we’re certainly not a one-player team – that’s for sure. We have to operate as a unit to be as effective as we can be and that’s brought us success over the years.”
Burnley have played the third-most long balls of any team in the league so far (74), behind only Sheffield United and Southampton, and do this with some success.
Barnes has contested the joint-second most aerial duels of any player this season (36; Troy Deeney has 41), winning 14. It is hardly tiki-taka, but Burnley do not simply hoof the ball. With two burly forwards to cope with, opposition defenders must expect a physical battle every time Burnley come to town.
By winning these battles, Burnley get the ball 50 yards up the pitch quickly, hold it up and move the rest of the team forward, rather than face losing possession in their own half.
Without Barnes and Chris Wood executing this traditional centreforward play so well, Burnley could be picked off by counterattack.
“I think one of the main improvements is attention to detail as a centre-forward,” says Dyche. “The importance of hold-up play, using the strengths you have rather than the things you haven’t – and he does that very well. His experiences of the game stand him in good stead, working all the way back from Paulton Rovers and the like, doing the hard side of the game, working for your team.”
As Burnley have improved season on season, so too has Barnes. His 25-yard rocket into the bottom corner against Wolves was evidence of a striker bubbling with self-belief. “The hardest thing is which players bring themselves to the table,” says Dyche.
“Knowing when to release from a defensive position and when to go back into the attacking line – that’s a cleverness that comes with experience. He’s got that, he knows the time to drop in and help the midfield and knows the time to release and get back into the front line to be effective.”