I saw exactly what I wanted from my team
Burnley’s 1-1 home draw against Luton was a game that gave both managers some satisfaction as they both remain unbeaten from their opening two games.
Luton boss Nathan Jones claimed to be pleased with his team’s battling performance in a game that saw them take an early lead before Burnley came back to equalise. Speaking after the match, he said: “They dominate possession and they will do that in the Championship this year, but apart from that I felt we had the better situations, especially first half.
He added: “I’m pleased overall, I know we haven’t won yet but at this stage (last season) we had three points, beat Peterborough and lost to West Brom. We should have won the first game and today I thought we put in a real good performance.”
Vincent Kompany, managing the Clarets for the first time at Turf Moor, was also pleased with parts of our performance. “You always want to win, but I saw exactly what I wanted from my team, spirit and high energy throughout the entire game,” he said.
“For ten minutes I think we were on the back foot dealing with what Luton brought to the table, but after that we matched them. We won second balls, were aggressive and chased in numbers. There was an energy in our performance, and the fans had a lift, which produced a better second half. There were a lot of positives from our second game overall.
“Possession or no possession, it’s hard to create more than we did in that second half, and we didn’t give anything away either. We controlled it and didn’t have to deal with any torpedoes coming towards our goal. I wanted energy from the team and for them to win battles. They did that.”
“We managed to create chance after chance in the second half, and I know that we can create even more. We can definitely be a bit more clinical, but it’s never going to be perfect in the beginning.”
There was special praise for midfielder Josh Brownhill who scored our equaliser. Kompany said: “He was ready for the responsibility of being a key player, and he clearly is. He gives us so much off the ball, but also on it. I still see some growth in his game, and I don’t want to talk him up too much, but what I’ve seen so far makes me think that he’ll be one of the best players in the Championship if he keeps it up.”
With us a goal down at half time, the manager introduced latest signing Manuel Benson for the second half. He explained: “He only trained a couple of times with the team, and there’s so many details that you’d want to bring to him before he goes on the pitch, but like all managers, when the game calls for him, you put him on.
“We couldn’t deal with one-v-ones, couldn’t threaten enough. Dara was having some success down his side and getting crosses in, but we needed it from both sides. He changed the game putting in good balls, and there’s 100% understanding between him and the rest of the team, then maybe people run onto those balls.”
With just one team, to date, having won twice, he concluded: “I think that’s an indication of just how the league will shape up, and I think you have to look at the two teams we’ve played, both of them were in the play-offs last season. For us to play these two teams gives us an indication as where our team stands. One thing is for sure, and that’s that we didn’t get rolled over by any of them. I’d say we looked the more threatening team in both matches.”
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