Paul Parker: In many ways, Burnley have a better defence than Manchester United

One bonus for Burnley so far is that they are in sixth – and reached as high as fourth earlier in the week – without this unbelievable record at home. That's what kept them in the Premier League last season. But this time they have gone and taken a few scalps (won four on the road) – and nicked two draws – away from Turf Moor.

They’ve lost that home supremacy a bit, with defeats to West Brom and Arsenal, but when you keep going out and winning games 1-0, a result they've had six times in the league this season, you are not doing badly. If it had been Manchester United or Manchester City doing it, they would have been lauded for winning ugly. But no-one’s saying that about Burnley, it’s more shock over what they have achieved more than anything.

Sean Dyche has built a good, compact team with no superstars and players who just want to play football. There’s a lot of continuity there, the squad isn’t big enough to mix and match – the best players will always feature. That keeps them happy as well, because there are a lot of Premier League names who are just happy to be in a squad. But that’s not the case at Burnley, they want to play each week. They are not happy to be told they want a rest.

They are a little bit of a throwback because they still have the incentives to win. I can’t imagine they are earning great wages, the club hasn’t gone down that line and will not waste money looking for superstars – that normally ends up blowing back in your face, as we’ve seen with QPR.

They’ve gone for players who the manager knows will give 100 per cent, who want to earn good money, and know they can make a good life for themselves when they retire but I’m sure there are incentives for them to win games too – and that keeps the fire burning.

When you are not conceding many, and have nine clean sheets like they’ve had, it’s hard not to be impressed as a former defender. It’s not always about how great the goalkeeper has been as well, it’s more about solid defending in front of him.

With Burnley you know it’s a solid back four and a good working midfield as well. So, in certain ways they are a better defence than Manchester United. Because the team defends together as a unit and are not reliant on the goalkeeper.

Do Burnley even have a specified defensive midfield player? I don’t think so – I think they have defensive-minded midfielders and attack-minded players there too. So they are doing it the old-fashioned way, as a team.

They have found a strength – they haven’t gone for an out-and-out holding midfielder because one man can’t chase around 10 players.

When I was playing, goalkeepers wouldn’t want to field any shots at all – didn’t want to make a save and come off with clean gloves. I would say you never work that way because that’s a gamble having to play that way.

Dyche has said it's not possible to stop conceding chances completely, but that his team try and cut out the golden opportunities for opponents.

He’s saying that with the quality his team is playing against, maybe the players are outstanding and can create something from nothing, so there is not much you can do. So you have to try and can shut down the few great opportunities, the one-on-ones, the bankers and then hope to go and get themselves something at the other end.

But that only works for so long. It means every time you concede you have to score one to go and get yourselves back into the game. If you are not a renowned team that is going to win 3-0 or 4-0 then it’ll be tough in the long run.

So you are relying that every time you are playing that your back five all have a good night’s sleep, will be mentally alright, the wife hasn’t left them and that sort of thing! You have to believe that they’ll do the business.

They are making the most of their opportunities so far, but I’m not sure they can maintain it.

As for Dyche – I just hope people don’t start talk about him becoming England manager, because that has ruined so many English bosses – Eddie Howe and Aidy Bothroyd (a Graham Taylor clone) and Alan Pardew to name a few. We have to stop doing it and let him get on with it for a decent period.

They will be hoping they can become a Stoke – that’s no disrespect to Burnley but they are looking for stability in the Premier League. That comes first and then maybe they can build on something. First and foremost you don’t want to be talked about as relegation candidates when you start the season.