Burnley manager Vincent Kompany on the challenge of facing West Ham in the Premier League and the battle to avoid relegation
Burnley, UK
Burnley, UK
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00:00 How has the mood been in the camp this week?
00:11 I think the way we are, the way this club is, we always keep going. The toughest part
00:19 is the moment after the game, but then afterwards you always look at how you need to be preparing
00:28 yourself for the next game and it requires all the attention to that.
00:33 You've done the midweek away trips and then the weekend's big Premier League game, looking
00:39 at West Ham, how much can you take advantage of the fact that they lost in Freiburg and
00:43 are still coming back from Germany and all the rest of it?
00:47 It's difficult to say. I think with the midweek away type of situation, it depends, every
00:57 group is different. I suppose if you're not used to it, it might affect you a little bit
01:04 more but I think West Ham is a team that's used to having a fixture this way. They've
01:09 reached the final of the Conference League not so long ago so it's a team that's used
01:13 to that. For us it's more a case of really being ready ourselves for this game.
01:19 There has been some criticism of some of the players from Burnley fans, James Trafford
01:24 in goal being one and Daro Shea at the back. Are the players aware of that? As the manager,
01:31 where are you feeling as far as when there is criticism coming their way?
01:36 No, I just feel as a group we always have to stick together. At the moment my only priority
01:41 is the group and that's all it is. When you lose you always come under criticism and it's
01:48 part of the job.
01:49 Finally, if you look at the bottom three, it's the three who came up last season, Sheffield
01:55 United are really struggling and we saw how brilliant Burnley were last season. Is there
02:01 something wrong with the Premier League? Is this an issue that there's such a gap between
02:07 the top, middle and bottom? Even Bournemouth who beat you on the weekend, that was the
02:11 first win of 2024 and we're talking about a competitive league. The gap seems massive.
02:17 Yes, look, it is what it is. Sometimes you can look into it as much as you want. The
02:25 top of the Championship, maybe except this year because this year some really, really
02:30 big clubs went down, but the very top of the Championship runs at what? £30-50 million
02:37 pound cost annually. The bottom of the Premier League runs at what? £150-160 annually. It's
02:46 just a massive difference in everything.
02:49 But from our side, no complaints. That's what we signed up for. We know we want to be in
02:56 the Premier League. The fact that it's not an easy ride is also not surprising because
03:03 of what I've described. It's just for us to keep the consistency, keep the players calm
03:10 and make sure we can try and turn those performances into results very soon.
03:15 The team against Bournemouth, there was only one player in the 30s. Lots of young players
03:23 in this squad. Are you feeling like you're having to protect those players at all, especially
03:27 the ones in the early 20s?
03:32 I don't really think like that too much. I've got a group of players and on any given day
03:39 any player has the chance to convince me that they should be starting. The only thing I
03:46 worry about is putting the right team for the game and that gives us the best chance
03:50 of winning the game.
03:51 You said in an interview last week that you feel as if you personally have improved an
03:58 awful lot over the last year. Even with that being the case, is that maybe just another
04:04 harsh reality of just how difficult it is, how big a gap there is in terms of management
04:10 possibilities when you go from Championship to Premier League?
04:13 But there's no complaint from my side. The fact of the matter is that in the last 24
04:21 months it's been such a fantastic learning experience. There's a lot of value in it and
04:30 it's the way you handle it. For myself, I've never gone and put myself into a corner and
04:35 start feeling sorry for myself. I go full on, I take it head on. It's tough but as well
04:46 I'm confident that because of this period of time we'll all get better, we'll all come
04:50 stronger out of this one.
04:55 When you don't have the points and you have a couple of bad performances like we very
04:58 clearly did against Arsenal and Palace, it creates a very different narrative and picture
05:03 than what actually has been going on for a long time. Like against Bournemouth we've
05:07 had very good performances but we've come short in areas of a game you can't underestimate
05:14 which is in both boxes. That's the truth for us this year. But it also reflects on the
05:19 level of the league.
05:20 The multi-million pound question from that then is how do you go about improving that?
05:25 Do you take encouraging signs from the fact that you had 75% possession against Bournemouth
05:31 and 20 shots on the goal? The fact that players are actually putting themselves in those positions
05:35 in order to be able to do that. Do you take the positives from that as opposed to some
05:39 people looking at it and saying you haven't done enough?
05:43 That's always a thing where it's very personal as to how you are as an individual. You've
05:47 got the guys who say it's all about results if you don't have results and then you've
05:50 got guys who say if you keep having performances and you stick at it then you'll improve
05:55 and eventually you'll get results. It depends on how you look at these things. I think from
06:03 my side I see tremendous amount of courage in a team. When you get beaten down a little
06:14 bit like it was after the Palace game, to build your energy back up and show what we
06:19 showed on the game against Bournemouth and have the performance. You mentioned the 20
06:24 shots we had but it's also the way we were aggressive in duels and the way we were aggressive
06:31 all over the pitch. To be able to master that at this point, to really bring that energy
06:37 at this point of the season when we've had so many tough weekends, that's something
06:45 special. It says something about the team. I know that at the end of the day results
06:53 do come from these types of showing. Results do come from teams that can be alive in moments
07:00 like this. It's just not happened. That's the truth we have to deal with.
07:05 West Ham are concerned, obviously had a little bit of a sticky patch, but still find themselves
07:10 in seventh in the Premier League. What do you make of the job David Moyes has done there
07:15 over the past few years to take from where they were to a side that's won European Cups,
07:20 is doing well in the Premier League etc?
07:24 I think David Moyes has always done well. He's won a European trophy, what more do you
07:30 have to say? What could crown the job that you've done at a place better than that? He's
07:37 won a European trophy for West Ham. But I remember playing against his teams when he
07:43 had the big Everton side with Fellaini, Kael up front and what that team used to represent.
07:49 Over the years he's been able to field a couple of very good teams that have impacted the
07:56 Premier League. One of those teams actually helped us win the Premier League. Does anyone
08:02 know which game I'm talking about? The David Moyes team that helped us win the Premier
08:09 League.
08:10 Have you said it?
08:14 No, you don't remember do you? I'll let you guys find out. There's one moment that has
08:21 been very crucial. But that moment also reflects on the teams he's had in this league, really
08:29 good teams that I remember as always being tough opponents to play against.
08:35 That's why he's sat in this chair and not over there!
08:45 Are you surprised he gets a little bit of criticism or has done this season at West
08:57 Ham?
09:01 In a football world? No, of course I'm not surprised. I wish for him to win another European
09:08 trophy. I guess that will settle it. But from my side, I can just speak about what I've
09:17 seen him do over the years. And then at the end of the day, that's also the reason why
09:21 for me it's a great game too. It's a great manager to come up against and it's a great
09:25 game for us to look forward to.
09:28 He's sustained it for so long in the Premier League, that's quite a difficult thing to
09:34 do with different clubs as well.
09:37 Yes, and as well knowing a little bit about him, I know how many hours he's put in over
09:43 the years. These guys have got a lot to share because to be able to have that drive for
09:53 so many years, I think that gets sometimes underestimated by people. How much inner strength,
10:00 how much inner motivation you need to have to go and take on the competition with anyone.
10:04 For me it's easy to have the energy. I've just walked into the job and I feel like I
10:10 could go on for another 30 years. But when you look and fast forward that a little bit,
10:15 you're thinking, well, that's a pretty long time in a job where three years feel like
10:19 ten years.
10:22 I said that about Roy Hudson, which is another generation still, but I can only admire the
10:28 work.
10:29 I spoke to Jacob Brunlarsson on Sunday after the match and he spoke a lot about players'
10:35 personal pride now, being front and centre of their minds. Do you see that on a daily
10:43 basis down here?
10:44 Whenever they're playing against Black against Bournemouth, yes. That's also what I want
10:49 them to reflect. You're not going to win all the games in life, but you have to be able
10:56 to always represent yourself in a way where you say, "Right, I've done my best." That
11:05 will give us results. It gave us results and fantastic moments last season. This season
11:12 has been difficult, but it will give us results again.
11:15 What Jacob is saying is absolutely what we feel. Every single day there's hard work.
11:22 Every single day we just push each other to keep performing. On Sunday, that's what we
11:29 want to do against West Ham again.
11:31 Does that professional pride, that personal pride, is that even more important when the
11:35 going is tough and times are difficult?
11:40 I'd like to keep it even more simple. It's like, we're here to work. At the end, we're
11:50 here to work, we're here to improve, we're here to get results. All that thing about
11:58 when you go and say, "We need to have results," OK, what do you need to do to have results?
12:04 Work hard, always. There's a reality sometimes where other teams are better than you. This
12:09 season we just simply faced that on some occasions. Teams were just better than us. But how do
12:16 you catch up? How do you get to that level? You work hard. This place, it is Burnley.
12:23 That's what happens behind the scenes. Nothing else.