It’s all about my players learning and moving forwards
Burnley fell to a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon and it was a home performance that pleased their manager Pep Guardiola.
“Burnley have won in amazing stages this season,” he said. “Their physicality is amazing. They are a group with a huge work ethic. if people come here thinking in 20 minutes, we will be winning 5-0, that is not going to happen.
“After the Champions League, it is so demanding. Champions League games are demanding mentally and physically.
“We created enough chances and defended their actions really well. We didn’t concede chances. Last season at 1-0, maybe we would have been more nervous with less control. At this moment, we don’t have that feeling but the players know we can lose. Every single minute in every game, we have to do what we have to do. Our confidence will increase and we can continue winning games.
“In the second half, we played so well in terms of control. We were stable, we created more chances and we scored in the right time. We are where we need to be. It’s three more points and we are happy.”
He also had praise for his defenders, in particular John Stones. “The performances of him and Nico in the last month have been top,” he said. “At Everton he played once a week. He is handing the fact we play every three days well. He is fit and focused. We believe he can reach another level. He is a guy with a huge personality. He wins duels and we are so happy for his performance.”
The win took City five points clear at the top of the league but Guardiola dismissed it. “In May, it is important. In October, it is not,” he said. “We have won 11 games in a row. It means we have been able to win lots of games.
“We are top of the Premier League and our Champions League group but last year, we won ten games in a row and we did not win titles. We must keep the rhythm, keep focused and continue to play our game.”
Whilst disappointed with the penalty decision, Sean Dyche saw positives in his team’s play. “I was pleased with aspects of our game,” he said. “This is probably as difficult a place as there is to come at the moment, and we had a couple of maybe moments.
“But then there’s a penalty that’s hard to decipher, for everyone. We had one not given against Chris Wood last week for more contact than there was today. If I was with my kid in the garden and tripped him, he wouldn’t fall over like that, let’s put it that way.
“I am fed up talking about the amount of simulation, and I don’t know why they call it that when it’s cheating. There is a touch today though, and the problem is that the rules say if there is a touch, he has to give a penalty.
“I’m not sure how the ref has seen that, because I had to look four or five times, but the touch to make you jump up in the air like that is physically impossible. It’s a skill in itself to jump that high from getting such a small contact.”
He added: ““You need breaks to go your way and we didn’t really get any today. We lost Sam yesterday, although that’s nothing serious, then Woody felt his hamstring and we had to get him off before that goes.
“Apart from the penalty they made some chances and it’s rare they won’t, especially at this place. In the second half we levelled it up a bit, but then once they got a head of steam up, it’s very difficult and they made a few subs that aren’t bad.
“The main thing for me though is continuing to develop as a group. Our shape was good again today, as was our energy within our shape, but we have to break from that mentality and use the ball wiser. It’s difficult on days like today because these are an unbelievable group of players assembled for a huge amount of money.
“You have to look at the bigger picture though, and it’s all about my players learning and moving forwards.”
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