Since his summer arrival in Burnley for just £2.5 million, Luca Koleosho has emerged as one of Burnley’s most exciting and impactful young players. With minimal first-team experience playing in La Liga, Vincent Kompany has entrusted the 19-year-old with the vital role of being an attacking catalyst, capable of sparking life into the struggling Burnley attack. The terror he has caused to opposing full-backs has stirred up further conversations and debates regarding his international eligibility- with the United States and Canada vying for his commitment to their men’s national sides.
In a cruel turn of fate, Vincent Kompany has revealed that Luca Koleosho now looks set to be unavailable for the foreseeable future, having suffered a significant knee injury against Wolves. With Burnley staring the EFL Championship in the face, the future may look bleak for Vincent Kompany, who must now ride another formidable challenge to ensure Premier League survival. Despite the upcoming winter transfer window, we will identify several internal candidates whom Burnley can turn towards to fill the void on the left flank.
This scout report and tactical analysis will begin to identify how significant of a loss Koleosho’s injury will be to Burnley’s tactics and their attacking output but also provide key analysis as to the new elements of the game that Burnley’s left-wing replacements could provide.
Luca Koleosho
Despite his short amount of time at Turf Moor, Luca Koleosho’s positive reception amongst the Burnley fanbase has stemmed from his playing style on the field. The dynamic winger has injected an element of excitement into a dismal season thus far, with fans feeding off his direct play and ability to make things happen out of nowhere.
He tends to operate wider on the flanks, using his electric pace and close control to take on defenders and drive towards the penalty area. His 3.05 successful take-ons per 90 and 0.28 goal-creating actions from take-ons highlight just how valuable he has been to Kompany’s side. Despite still being 19, Koleosho has displayed attacking intelligence and positional awareness to sustain a large amount of possession within the final third and hurt defenders with his explosive movement. With 5.21 touches in the opposition penalty area per 90, he remains a dangerous presence with the shiftiness to work in compact spaces.
Even though Koleosho is closely graded on his offensive output, his defensive capabilities are also a huge reason why he has been ever-present in the starting line-up. Koleosho has been tasked with remaining resolute in defence, dropping into the left side of their 4-4-2 to stifle opposing attacks. His energetic nature has translated well to his defensive duties, using his pace to cover ground and win the ball back high up the pitch. Having won possession 1.28 times in the final third per 90, he remains reactive and intent on creating turnovers and initiating the counterattack.
Although we have observed attacking intent and direct running from Koleosho, his final product still leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst his ability to progress the ball has been positive, his final-third decision-making is much more representative of a player with his age and experience. Whilst an underachievement of 1 goal from 1.89xG is not too damning, it does highlight that the young winger’s end product will look to be further enhanced.
While the loss of Koleosho has painted a bleak picture for Burnley’s chance at Premier League survival, the winger position is probably the one in which they have the most depth. Kompany has a few names in his ranks that he could turn to in order to bolster his attack and increase offensive output in the second half of the season.
Wilson Odobert
A player of similar profile within the Burnley ranks would have to be young French winger Wilson Odobert. Having adopted the starting role since Koleosho’s absence, he has repaid the faith given to him by Kompany. The fellow 19-year-old possesses the same attacking intent and flair which Burnley fans have been accustomed to this campaign. With familiarity on either flank, Odobert also looks to utilise his speed and technical prowess to take- on opposing defenders and find opportunities to break into the penalty area.
Despite his limited opportunities thus far this season, Odobert has begun to live up to the €10 million price tag which saw him leave Troyes for the English outfit. With three goals and one assist in his 6 Premier League starts, Odobert has grasped this opportunity with both hands and facilitated some crucial results for this struggling Burnley side.
Having the propensity to work the ball onto his favoured right foot and drive inside the pitch, Odobert has shown a greater clinical nature in front of the net. His ability to find the target from both inside and outside the box would leave us to believe that, whilst raw, he can continue to be an attacking contributor for the remainder of this season. At such a young age, he has displayed a promising level of composure to identify oncoming pressure and pick his spot effectively.
Much like Koleosho, Odobert’s final product, from a creative aspect, has left much to be desired, with observed inaccuracy when attempting to find his teammates. With crossing success and chances created being weaker aspects of their game, their ability to provide for the likes of Jay Rodriguez and Lyle Foster has come at a premium. All things considered, even though their lively nature injects a much-appreciated spark into the Burnley attack, Kompany could look further into his arsenal to unleash a real creative weapon.
Mike Tresor
Having been Vincent Kompany’s number-one transfer target throughout the summer window, Mike Tresor has yet to replicate the success he achieved in the Belgian Pro League. After a historic season with Genk, his record-breaking assist total had elite teams all over Europe monitoring his style and vying for his services. Tresor’s transfer to Burnley brought with it excitement, which has been yet to be realised. With a lack of game time and unfamiliarity with Kompany’s system, we are only starting to now understand how Tresor can mould his play to cope with the intensity of the Premier League.
Despite being only 24 years old, Tresor possesses a much more well-rounded skill set than his inexperienced teammates. With a European pedigree at Genk, Tresor has adopted a larger proportion of the attacking burden over the previous seasons, achieving eight goals and 24 assists whilst missing out on the title by a single point. An interesting notion for the Burnley manager to address would be how Tresor’s style differs and how he could potentially unleash the talents of Odobert and Tresor at the same time.
Mike Tresor has displayed much more of a supportive playstyle throughout his time in Belgium whilst also having the ability to hurt defenders with explosive movements and close control. A testament to his assisting success would be his tendency to orchestrate key chances with killer through balls and pinpoint crosses. One of his most essential traits would have to be his speciality in dead-ball scenarios, having amplified success scoring from direct free-kicks and putting dangerous balls into the box for teammates to attack. His pace of play would appear slightly slower than that of Koleosho, having increased opportunity to stay composed and utilise his great sense of attacking vision.
When tackling the daunting challenge of Premier League survival, footballing maturity and experience are fundamental attributes for Vincent Kompany to take advantage of. Tresor has displayed these at both ends of the pitch with the ability to identify opposing pressure and maintain possession through the use of technical flair and quick passing.
On the other side of the ball, we have seen Tresor applying his intelligence in defensive situations and nullifying the opposition’s ability to have success in the wide areas. Much like his attacking counterparts, Tresor has displayed the ability to execute an overload on opposing wingers- being proactive and aiding his full-back in denying passing outlets and space to progress the ball.
His cover work is equally as important, with Burnley’s progressive central defenders looking to carry the ball into midfield often being caught out in transition. As shown in the image below, with natural defender Charlie Taylor sliding across from the full-back position, Tresor retreats into the defensive line to maintain a solid shape.
Conclusion
With the likelihood of relegation dawning at Turf Moor, Kompany will hope that the new year brings a lease of life into his Burnley side. The absence of Luca Koleosho is undoubtedly a huge blow to their chances of survival- but not all hope is lost.
The ‘next man up’ mentality allows those who have waited in the wings an opportunity to display their talents on the highest stage. Recent performances from Wilson Odobert and Mike Tresor have been very promising and have given the Clarets invaluable results needed to escape the bottom three.
Nevertheless, with Burnley supposedly moving in the right direction performance-wise, they will need their squad to step up to the challenge to maintain top-flight status.
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