Brighton & Hove Albion are a month away from kicking off their second season in the Premier League and will be looking to improve on last season’s 15th place finish. The Seagulls will also be looking to continue their policy of wise investment of not spending big amounts and they could do well to follow Burnley‘s blueprint for success.
Achieving Success: The Burnley Way!
Burnley’s success is not something that has happened overnight but has come over the last few seasons. After winning promotion back to the Premier League in the 2015/16 season, they finished the 2016/17 season in the sixteenth place and then built on that by finishing seventh last season. This seventh place finish led to them securing the chance to play in the Europa League qualifying rounds this season.
But just how have they done this? It is due to a number of different reasons, one of them being the wise investment. Apart from that, their manager Sean Dyche had been a revelation in the top flight throughout the last term as he helped a bunch of relatively unknown players to perform at tandem and get the results in their favour.
Wise Investment
The Clarets’ investment has been a huge part of their success last season. Manager Sean Dyche had brought in players who have not cost massive amounts but fit perfectly into Burnley’s system. Let’s look at a couple of their signings and how they have been key to their success.
Firstly you have Aaron Lennon, who was signed from Everton in January and has been a good addition. Although Lennon has not scored any goals in his 14 appearances last season for Burnley, he chipped in with two assists and was a great and experienced addition to the squad.
Secondly, you have Jack Cork, who returned to Burnley on a four-year deal last summer. Cork was impressive for Burnley last season, scoring three goals in 41 appearances. His form during the season was rewarded with him being called up to the England squad in November last year and he then earned his first cap in a 0-0 draw against Germany as a late substitute.
The manager
Another telling fact in Burnley’s rise to finishing seventh is their manager Sean Dyche. Since he became the gaffer in 2012, he has guided them to two promotions to the Premier League and their best ever finish in England’s top flight.
One of Dyche’s key skills throughout his time at Burnley has been his patience and faith. Despite Burnley being relegated one season after being promoted the first time around, he kept his faith with his squad and they repaid it by winning the Championship title.
He has also been patient every season by keeping the faith in his squad while slightly altering it with one or two players on occasions and tweaking their formation, which has really paid off. It doesn’t matter if things are going badly, Dyche looks to stick with his principles as he believes it will pay off and last season it certainly did.
Unknown players shined for Burnley
The other key ingredient to their success last season was how relatively unknown players shone. There are many names to throw out like Tom Heaton, Ben Mee, Nick Pope, Ashley Barnes, Chris Wood and Jeff Hendrick, just to name a handful.
The Burnley squad have been impressive throughout and have done brilliantly to help and guide the club to it’s highest ever Premier League finish. This has also seen the likes of Pope picked for the England squad for the World Cup, depicting how well he and the squad have done.
How can Brighton learn
Brighton, like Burnley in the 2016/17 season, finished the last term in the Premier League at 15th and have shown how much of a threat they can be having beaten Arsenal and Manchester United at home.
Like Burnley, Brighton have spent wisely while improving their squad. This summer they have spent around £15 million bringing in Jason Steele, Leon Balogun, Florin Andone and Bernardo. If The Seagulls can improve on their first season in the Premier League, it could see them, like Burnley, finishing the top half of the table and having the chance of maybe even qualifying for the Europa League. One can at least hope.
