Crystal Palace have been responding to their latest appointment of Dougie Freedman with rumours, foiling that the Glaziers are interested in RB Leipzig’s Oliver Burke. The Scot has worked with Freedman, in their time together at Nottingham Forest before his departure to RB Leipzig. With talisman Wilfried Zaha expected to be out for four weeks due to an injury – Burke’s arrival is very important as Frank de Boer looks to get settled at his new club. But what does the former Nottingham attacker bring to the table?
Strengths
Oliver Burke is undoubtedly a proper winger. He has sheer pace, combined with his dribbling skills, which helps him get past the opposition defender. Moreover, Burke is very direct as well, meaning he is not the one to play around with possession and takes the ball to the opposing defence on the word go.
Burke showed some of his glimpses at the start of last season particularly on his Bundesliga debut, where he scored a goal. After tha, however, he saw his playing time drastically reduced to the point that he made only five starts for the Bundesliga runners-up last term.
Burke has been known to be a big admirer of Freedman with the Scot admitting that ‘he was a father figure’ to him as well as a manager.
One of his most prized traits as a winger, is his athleticism and strength. For someone of his age, he is fairly bulky and takes his training pretty seriously. Therefore, there’s no wonder why he has been compared to Welsh superstar Gareth Bale. He can even play as a secondary striker, who is pretty efficient in hold up play. He can shift through the gears at any given time and his physicality allows him to bulk through the opposition defenders. It’s perhaps needless to say that Burke will be a great addition for Palace.
Weaknesses
His vision. Burke is not someone who’ll have his head raised up, whilst making those mazy runs in opposition defences. This could be a potential problem in Frank de Boer’s possession based system. His passing is also not standout compared to other Leipzig wingers. One thing which makes him inferior to other Leipzig wingers, is the ability to stick with teammates as a cohesive unit. He often gets isolated when making his runs, or gets outnumbered by opposition defenders, ultimately wasting the opportunity.
Talk about Emil Forsberg, Marcel Sabitzer or Timo Werner, they all know what their teammates can offer and thus they take full advantage of that. A little more openness in his game should improve his overall output greatly.
Opportunities
Make no mistake, Oliver Burke will be an important part of Crystal Palace’s offensive gameplan. Considering the fact that most of their attacking outlets, including Jonathan Williams, Connor Wickham, Bakary Sako and Wilfried Zaha are currently injured, Burke will have a lot of chance to prove his credentials early on in the season. His partnership with Andros Townsend can be pivotal in Palace’s attacking domination this season.
Threats
Oliver Burke is definitely not the most experienced wingers in the market right now. There’s a reason why Ralph Hassenhuttl has chose not to have Burke in his plans this season. The Scot has very less experience when it comes to top flight. Furthermore, his 15m valuation also seems a bit too expensive, considering the fact that there are other great wingers available in the market for a much smaller fee. But then again, there’s only a week left till the transfer market shuts down and Burke’s arrival could be very instrumental in Palace’s road ahead this season under the guidance of new coach Frank de Boer.
