FIRE UP CLARETS
Dyche tips striker to fill Danny Ings’ scoring boots
years, this side have resembled nothing so much as a rattling bag of spare parts, bodged together and jammed into some semblance of a system.
Not here. Rosler is a famed stickler for detail and this display – diligent pressing, clearly-defined roles, cute set-pieces – had the German’s fingerprints all over it.
From the start they played with a searing intensity, Dallas hitting the crossbar, Mowatt clipping a post and Wood – wasteful on his debut – tapping tamely at the keeper before smashing an easy chance over.
And as for their opener, a spec- tacular 25-yarder whipped into the top corner by sub Antenucci, the Championship can rarely have been kicked off in finer style.
“We came into this game on the back of a 15th-place finish in the Championship and played a team who spent last year in the Premier League,” added Rosler.“I didn’t see a difference.That is the standard we have set and it must be maintained.”
Though typically tough, the Clarets lacked much of their old menace on the break, with Lukas Jutkiewicz and debutant Jelle Vossen very much a work in progress.
It’s not that the pair did anything wrong. Both forced routine saves from Marco Silvestri in the Leeds goal. It’s more that they failed to operate as a unit, each forging his own path and even running into each other at one stage in the first half.
Such misunderstandings are understandable at this formative stage of the campaign, but do not be surprised if Burnley stutter before finding their groove.
And make no mistake – they certainly looked better with Vokes on the pitch, especially when he rose to power debutant Tendayi Darikwa’s inch-perfect cross beyond Silvestri.