KOMPANY "WE WILL USE THIS TO GET BETTER"

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Burnley boss aims to take the positives from challenging afternoon

2023-03-18T21:10:48.552Z

KOMPANY "WE WILL USE THIS TO GET BETTER"

Burnley boss aims to take the positives from challenging afternoon

2023-03-18T21:10:48.552Z

Burnley boss aims to take the positives from challenging afternoon

The Clarets bowed out of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon against a strong Manchester City side in the quarter-final.

Despite the score line, manager Vincent Kompany believes the squad can take the positives from aspects of the performance - and use the opportunity to make the team better.

“I think first I’m disappointed because we lost but I’m always proud of our team, it doesn’t have to be anything with the result. These guys, they work hard, they keep their heads up all the time and yes we got seriously beat today, but I hope we will react to this, not just brush it aside but use it as motivation to get better. It doesn’t mean that these games are easy to win, you know ever, but there’s got to be a way to get better, to come closer, to find a way.

“I want to play these games again, again and again, until it works, until we succeed but we’ve got to get better first.”

A sold-out Etihad made it a challenging occasion for the away side but they did create chances in the first half.

“If I look back at the first half, I would have signed up for, not the result but the kind of flow of the game, there wasn’t any real momentum for the opposition team. Look, it wasn’t easy for us either but I think definitely, it was a good away performance in a very difficult venue.

KOMPANY EXCITED TO PREPARE TEAM FOR NEW SEASON - Image 2

“Then the second half, and this is what they do, they have a little bit of time to adapt and just the quality of the players, the quality of the coaches, so many things that made it difficult to stay in the game in the second half.”

Nearly 8,000 Burnley fans made the trip to Manchester and made their voices heard throughout the game, something Kompany is immensely proud of.

“They’ve been with us everywhere and I just hope they can recognise we did everything we could. It’s never perfect, definitely not when the result is so heavy but I think the message is more that again, we will use this as a learning. Anytime that we’ve had a little bit of a setback we’ve turned the pain into something useful and that’s already starting now.”

GREAT TO START OFF AT HOME SAYS KOMPANY - Image 1

Kompany received a standing ovation from both sides on his return to the Etihad, albeit in different circumstances this time as a manager in the opposition dugout.

“I was proud to come here with Burnley. I was proud to come here with 8,000 fans and then I was, I’ve got to be honest, honoured to receive the reception from my former club Man City. It felt like a very friendly atmosphere towards me but in the end, on the pitch it felt hostile. So, we’re still here to compete and my goal next time is to see if we can do something better, if this game can be different.”

The FA Cup journey made me over but following the international break, the Clarets will be looking to retain their league winning form, and will use today's fixture as a learning experience.

“It takes nothing away from what the lads have done so far, it’s a really good experience. As much as it annoys me of course, in any capacity that we lose, there’s a lot of positives to get out of the first half especially, we just came up against a better side.

“I think what typifies us at Burnley is that we have this incredible drive to improve all the time because we know we’re not Man City, we’re not any team in the top six, or even a Premier League team. We have to have an absolute focus on getting better.”