We know we need to turn things around

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Ralf Rangnick makes his first visit to Burnley tonight as a coach and in his pre-match conference was still baffled as to how they had lost their FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough when they went out on penalties.

Ahead of tonight’s game, he spoke of having options in all positions even though they will be without a couple of players. He said: “Yes, it’s always competition. We now have, in the current squad, in each position, two players to compete for each position. No matter if it’s right-back, centre-back, 6s, 8s, two central strikers and the wingers.

Embed from Getty Images“We currently play most of the game with a 4-3-3 with one holding 6 and two 8s and, as I said, in the wing positions, we also have, for each side now that Jesse is going to stay, two players and it’s up to them. In the end, it’s the players to decide who plays by the quality of their performances in training and in the games.”

At yesterday’s press conference he was asked about our new signing Wout Weghorst and Turf Moor. He said of Weghorst: “Yes, he looks with his size, a little bit like Ian Rush, for example, but he’s a very technical player.

Due to his size, he is also physically present but he’s not that much of a physical target striker. He is more of a technical player. Also, he had good times at Wolfsburg when Oliver Glasner was head coach, he did extremely well and scored quite a few goals. Hopefully, tomorrow, he won’t score. He played against Watford and I obviously watched that game on TV. I thought he was a good signing and one of the best possible signings to replace Wood.”

Of the Turf, he added: “I think I was there a couple of years ago to watch a home game of Burnley but, officially as head coach, it’s a first game.”

Sean Dyche has seen the Clarets keep clean sheets in each of our last two league games and he said: “We had to get back to basics after a tough period. We did this against Arsenal and we played a bit more open against Watford, but we still kept a clean sheet and stayed solid.

Embed from Getty Images“It is developing from that and doing the basics well and introducing some freedom to our play. Of course, that sometimes comes from getting good results but you have to work hard to get results in the first place.

“We are trying to build on the basic principles that we do, We believe that we will score goals even though we have not scored as many as we would have liked so far. The next challenge is for us to build on the strong base we have built and adding the quality needed to score goals.”

Tonight it’s Manchester United and Dyche added: “They have got some very good and well recognised players. They have real quality and yes, there is a bit of noise coming out of there with what is going on at the club, but as soon as the whistle blows on Tuesday night, you have to take on the reality of what is in front of you.

“The reality is we are playing against a group of very good players. I thought we performed really well at Old Trafford earlier this season, and late on we created two or three really good chances. Statistically it was one of our best performances, especially with the number of quality chances we created. However, we didn’t get the win and we have to build on that mentality on the base I just mentioned and go into the game with a really positive attitude to take Manchester United on.”

With the Clarets still bottom of the league, Dyche said: “We often remind the players of the good values and ability that they have all got. We also remind them of the experiences we have had in the Premier League. It does not guarantee the future, but we have been in this position before. We are actually one point better off than we were three seasons ago at this stage of the season.

“There is a clear sign that we can turn things round because we have done in the past. The stats show that we are generally quite strong in the second half of the season. The mentality will remain to keep testing and challenging ourselves to win games. That is what we have done in the past and to keep moving in the right direction and I believe that we are.

“We have been down this road before and we know we need to turn things around, but this is all about hard work ethic, belief and the desire to go and make things happen.”

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