There was more belief and that was a big thing
Burnley returned from Old Trafford with a point from a 0-0 draw and it appeared all too much for their manager Jose Mourinho who wasn’t for speaking after the game. Instead, media duties went to his assistant Rui Faria.
He said: “I think we were the better team on the pitch. We controlled the match, even with ten men, I think you couldn’t feel there was one player less because of the mentality, the attitude, the concentration, the belief and the fight of the players.
“People could see that they gave everything until the last second and that is a very difficult thing to build. In this moment we have that in this team. We need to congratulate the players for their fight and for their believe, for their will and desire to win. They did it until the last second.
“We are not happy. We created a lot of chances, we couldn’t score. It is important to score and we didn’t, but we created. If we don’t create then we should be more worried. We did very well. We tried and we are not happy. I repeat the players were fantastic, they did a great job and they deserve to be congratulated.”
He added: “You always believe. When the best player on the pitch is their goalkeeper, you always believe that a minimum of one goal will happen but it didn’t happen. We need to keep going, to keep fighting and the players need to keep believing because this is the way. With the right mentality and the right approach to every match. The results will come and we will have better days.
“It was hard. You are fighting since the first second to get the result. We showed that. We controlled the game, we were dominant. With ten men we kept doing the same, fighting for the same objective and we can’t ask more from the players because they were fantastic.”
Sean Dyche was also pleased with what he got from his players and he solved the mystery of where the Manchester United manager had disappeared to. “I had no idea Jose had been sent off at half time,” he said. “I only found out at the end of the game, but he came in and congratulated us, so fair play and I think his questions are not with us, but the referee today.”
Dyche did admit: “The sending off was unlucky because I was here in the week and people were slipping on that surface. I couldn’t work out whether it was a slip or a late challenge, but the others didn’t look like penalties to me, but it was a fantastic point.
“There were many good things in the performance, but there’s still improvements to be made, particularly with the ball. Mind you, it is hard when you come here and a lot of credit goes to them, because they never stopped coming, even with ten men.
“They just kept forging and pressing and crossing and mixing up the play and our keeper and back four had to play well. Tom was excellent and he knows he is going to have to be on top form, but he is a very good goalkeeper and he continues to mature and work at his game and the biggest thing for me is he has that inner belief that goalkeepers need, that the ball is not going to go in the net.
“But I’m just really proud of the shape, the basics and doing all the ugly things that count. Whatever the result today, there was more belief and that was a big thing and a building block.
“It isn’t as easy as saying we can kick on because it’s the Premier League ad we know it’s a tough task, home and away, but psychologically you come off the back of a real fight last week and a late goal, then to come here and fashion out a point was really important. The players get their shoulders back a little bit more now.”
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