Football League World
·29 November 2024
Football League World
·29 November 2024
Jeremy Sarmiento bagged his second Burnley goal of the season in midweek and that could see the Brighton loanee find a new place in the team
Burnley boss Scott Parker has recently brought Jeremy Sarmiento into his Clarets starting XI as he looks to change their creative fortunes going forward - but he may be best tweaking his line-up further to have the Brighton loanee in a central area, following his strike against Coventry City in midweek.
Sarmiento started on the left flank ahead of Luca Koleosho, with the rapid Italian youth international benched for just the first time this season, missing only one other game against Sunderland towards the start of the season.
A meagre first-half from the Clarets saw them fail to break the Sky Blues down, but just under two minutes into the second period, Sarmiento slammed home from a Connor Roberts cutback to give Burnley the lead.
As we all know, the Clarets are water-tight at the back this season, having broken division records with just six goals conceded in 17 games, and Coventry - now heeded by Frank Lampard at the helm - failed to find a way back into the game, with CJ Egan-Riley doubling the lead with an audacious chip.
But whilst their defensive endeavours are something to marvel over, their attacking output isn't quite up to scratch - and that could see Sarmiento moved into the middle to combat their creative issues.
Sarmiento, whilst skilful, is not blessed with as much pace as Koleosho and Jaidon Anthony on the wings, who have been Burnley's star men out wide so far this season.
He's better on the ball than the Italian-American, and although Anthony has had the most goal involvements this season, Sarmiento's quality in terms of chance creation in the final third needs to be unlocked for the time being.
If he isn't going to get game time on the wings, then he's certainly more than good enough to play in the hole - and with Burnley suffering in that area, he could make the shirt his own behind Jay Rodriguez and Lyle Foster.
That was evident on Tuesday. Sarmiento had spent the whole game toiling on the left-flank with Lucas Pires, though it was to no avail - however, moving centrally for Roberts' cutback, he fired home from between the six-yard line and the penalty area to give Turf Moor the huge relief of going a goal to the good.
He's best at working in tight spaces, and it's no secret as to how poor Parker's men have been in the final third. But by keeping Sarmiento central, it would also allow Koleosho and Anthony to run the wings with their pace and guile, giving them an outlet to pass to in the centre where Sarmiento would somewhat pull the strings.
Of course, Burnley haven't been without their bad luck in terms of injuries. Zian Flemming joined in the summer, but he has been in and out of the squad with injury problems, whilst Josh Brownhill failed to feature against the Sky Blues, and with Aaron Ramsey, Mike Tresor and Manuel Benson on the treatment tables too, it's given more responsibility and burden to Sarmiento to produce.
But he could take it in his stride. If the Ecuador international does move centrally and hit the ground running, he may well blossom and keep Flemming, Ramsey and Brownhill out of contention for the attacking midfield role - and give Parker a positive dilemma to work with in the future.