We are still learning and developing
Burnley travel to Anfield tomorrow to face Liverpool and their manager Jürgen Klopp who, in his first full season in charge, has taken his side into fourth place in the Premier League.
Klopp’s only previous game against the Clarets came in August when Sam Vokes and Andre Gray scored the goals in a 2-0 win leaving Klopp looking to get his first win against us.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “We will see what we do, but this game is in a few ways really special. Even if we would have won all the games against other teams, Burnley is special because they have the clearest plan of all of these teams. That’s why I think Burnley are happy with their position in the table, they have this comfortable position.
“It is 100 per cent clear what they do but it’s 100 per cent clear that it’s not easy. It’s not about how other teams play football; they play different to Sunderland, they play different to a lot of teams. Hull, meanwhile, plays completely different. With Burnley it is clear what you have to expect and the knowledge about our problems against other teams is not for this game. It would be difficult even if we had won all the other games, that’s how it is.
“They defend like they defend, you all know it, counter-attack, long balls, all that stuff, it’s really tuned. Barnes or Vokes are running, or Gray is running, general balls in behind, set-pieces, you know it can’t be easy, that’s how it is.
“I know when we prepare for a top side everybody thinks ‘wonderful’, and yes it will be. I’m pretty sure if you don’t score early, or score another goal early, then it will be difficult and the quality is high in Burnley. You can see the results they had even when they lost away games, it’s not that they lose high against most sides. I think Man United and Tottenham for sure were close games, and we need to be ready to work again.”
He added: “Of course, creating an atmosphere on the pitch, creating an atmosphere in the stadium, using the advantage of Anfield, all that stuff. If you miss a chance against Arsenal, nobody is surprised, it’s not that everybody thinks ‘oh, again’. You miss a chance against Burnley, which will probably happen, hopefully we have some, everybody thinks differently, difficult, there will not be another chance like this.
“We need to feel free for playing football. Yes, we know about a few problems already but we had already good sessions, we will have good sessions, and we have to go in the game.”
Klopp is fully aware of our away record, and said: “Their away record is obviously not good, if you look only at the numbers then that’s pretty obvious in comparison to the home record especially. But it is not that they have no chances in the game – the situations are similar, sometimes they use the situations and sometimes not.
“For the other teams it was always hard work to beat them so we only have to be ready for hard work. If we do this then I think we have a bigger chance to win than to lose but that’s what we have to do. There is nothing decided before the game, as always in football, that’s a good thing.
“Everything is possible, that’s another good thing that nobody really likes, especially when you think about that we also could lose. We have to take it, we have to take it like it is. We respect Burnley a lot, not only because we lost there but because of the season. The style of play is clear but that means they are good in it, as good as they want to be.
“Maybe not always, Sean Dyche is not always 100 per cent happy with the results, but the performance maybe more often than with the results. They think they are close to it, we think too that we are close to change the situation, so we will try all we can. You cannot compare Premier League teams to each other, only we do it because we split the league into teams we win against and the rest. Burnley is one of the other teams and a good side. We need to be ready for it.”
Burnley took advantage of the switch in fixtures to get the first points on the board. “I think everyone would agree that it was good to have the points against Liverpool earlier in the season in the bag and getting that first win,” Sean Dyche said as he prepared his players for the return game at Anfield.
“I know they have had a few bumps in the road since then but they are a fine side, both in the group of players they have got and a great manager at a great club.
“The main thing for us is to keep working hard at our game. We have come a long way since then but there is work to be done. We have taken ourselves forward as a team and as a club financially. Our record signing probably would be Liverpool’s cheapest signing and although money doesn’t guarantee you everything, it obviously deepens that chance of being successful.
“We are still learning and developing and we have never projected an image that we are the real deal because we’re not. We know that we have to work for everything we get, but we believe we have a group who are willing to do that.”
As for the home and away record, Dyche added: “We have learned that our home form is very important and that the away form is difficult to come by. We are working on that and it is equally as tough going away to Liverpool, of course. I think it’s just the beauty of football, where strange anomalies occur. We can’t guarantee to win there, but can we go and deliver a performance?
“We know we will be massive underdogs for this one, not just because of the difference in the two clubs but because of our away form, statistically, so we go there open minded and on the front foot and we want to give a good performance.”
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