Vincent Kompany wants to see Burnley’s players “on their knees” through exhaustion at the end of their crucial relegation six-pointer at Everton on Saturday as they battle to stay in the Premier League.
Burnley arrive at Goodison Park on their best run of form so far this season, remaining unbeaten in their past four matches. Despite their upturn, Kompany’s side are six points from a safe position with seven games to play, and have won only four matches. Everton are four points above the relegation zone in 16th but face the prospect of another deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules, which could be a defining factor in who stays and who goes.
“I just want the team to have no fear, to attack every game and go all out,” Kompany said. “I said before the Wolverhampton game we had to play our hearts out and run our socks off and I felt we did against Wolves, and I want to see that in every single game. I want to see a team that’s on its knees after the game, because they are that tired they have given everything. I want to see players who are constantly trying to score goals and be the team that can be going forward as well.”
After the trip to Everton, Burnley face Brighton at home before travelling to bottom club Sheffield United in a critical run of matches. Kompany’s first season as a top-flight manager has been a learning curve after Burnley romped to the Championship title in his first year at Turf Moor, and he is looking to implement the lessons learned after 31 matches during the run-in.
“The truth is you’re in the best league in the world and you’re facing the best players, the best teams, the best managers and and you’re doing it with a team and a group of players who are sometimes still finding their feet in that competition,” Kompany said. “There’s stuff you’re getting exposed to that you need to solve really, really quickly. That is the nature of the challenge in this division. It’s just making sure that you get the best out of your players and then you believe in the fact that you can get results even against that level of opposition.”
Everton have failed to win any of their past 13 Premier League matches under Kompany’s predecessor Sean Dyche, since defeating Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on 16 December. The former Burnley manager is fondly remembered after a successful decade in charge of the club. “He [Dyche] is the reference point for this club,” Kompany said.
“You’ve [Arsène] Wenger at Arsenal, you’ve got Pep at City, David Moyes at Everton. At any club, you’ll be able to name a reference person for that club. He [Dyche] is that guy [at Burnley]. There’s no point in doing anything other than cherishing that – it’s really important. Just like he’ll be trying to do better than Moyes, we’ll be trying to help the club go forward. Nothing more than that. This is something that is exciting for me. It’s exciting to be a part of that challenge.”
