Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has said that this first season back in the Premier League will be ‘difficult’ but the squad have a lot of ‘potential’.
The Clarets’ secured promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking after winning the Championship last season,
They have started this season poorly though, sitting bottom of the league, failing to pick up a point. Burnley’s expenditure in the summer has received some criticism, with Kompany previously backing the club’s transfer policy, however, he maintains belief in his players in what will be a ‘difficult’ season.
“It’s still a mix. If you look through the entire squad we have a mix,” he told the Burnley Express.
“In the end we try and look at the best available talent in the market. Age is a component but it’s not something we put first.
“A lot of those talents would have been inaccessible for us not so long ago, so to have them here and among us is important for us.
“We can either struggle for the next 10 years or we can use this season to maybe struggle for one season but then make a leap forward soon after.
“This is the kind of squad we have, one that can progress for a number of years. It’s one year where it’s not going to be different than any of the teams that have just come up, but whatever way we shaped the squad it would have been the same.
“The first year is always a difficult year.”
Kompany says squad has a lot of ‘potential’
Kompany said that the future is looking good with so many young players in the squad, saying it’s one of the things about the squad that is ‘exciting’.
“Looking past this year and looking at a cycle of three years, this team has got some real, real potential and that’s exciting.”
“It’s one exciting thing about our squad. I’m not saying in year one we’re going to be bursting the net every week, but you’re going to have to be tough defensively as well. But I do feel in the future there is potential in our squad to have a real goal threat.
“How long it will take, I don’t know. But there are some guys who are always dangerous when they are on the pitch.”