The desire to win has to be a habit

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Burnley travel to the Emirates tomorrow to take on Arsenal and that brings Mikel Arteta and Vincent Kompany up against each other for the first time as managers although they know each other well from their time together at Manchester City as coach and captain.

Arteta was asked about how well Kompany has done at Burnley, winning the promotion to get us back into the Premier League. “I’m not surprised at all,” he told arsenal.com, adding: “I think he was already a coach when he played. He was a leader, someone very intelligent that could navigate very different scenarios as well.

Embed from Getty Images“In the dressing room and above, he understood the game really well. He spoke several languages and you could tell straight away that he was going to be a top coach. Obviously he’s had a very strong career already.

“What they did last year was incredible, especially the way they did it. In this Premier League we all have difficulties. We all have good moments and I’m really happy to see him doing what he’s doing.”

Looking at Burnley this season, he added: “Looking back on the games they have played and the results they’ve got, in some of them they have merited much more than what they got. I don’t think it reflects actually what they deserved in games, but that is the difficulty of this league. Sometimes when you deserve more, you don’t get it because the quality of the opposition is so high. But the way they have transformed their way of playing, the club, and how they continue to play with the belief that they do, for me it’s remarkable.”

Embed from Getty ImagesVincent Kompany is aware just how difficult a game this will be but he also knows his Burnley team are going to have to start picking up points soon and he said: “Our mindset doesn’t ever change. I think the desire to win has to be a habit and this dedicated group give everything they can for this club. Ok, they have top players and are a top team but it’s a chance to measure ourselves against some of the best and hopefully get a surprise result there.

“There is no lack of effort amongst this team and they work very hard every single day and give their absolute best. I think belief is the most important thing and other than tactics, key moments to go our way and a little bit of luck, we have to believe to win.”

Of the opposition, he said: “It’s a very complete tea. You can see the journey they’ve been on. It’s a robust, strong squad with great technical ability, speed and is well coached. They have built a team now that is one of the best teams in the league and let’s not forget how he (Arteta) was judged at the beginning of his time there.

“There’s been a project planned there since day one and with his good mix of intelligence, passion and resilience, it’s worked out well for him. When he was coaching he was still able to join in the training sessions at times and then he was extremely passionate, driven and dedicated to it. He had a big role behind the scenes for the club and I don’t think anyone would have doubted that he would go on to be a good manager.”

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