This game is extremely important for both sides, with Burnley struggling to get out of the relegation zone, and Mikel Arteta desperate to break Arsenal’s worst run of form for decades.
Dyche is probably used to the pressure as he has continually managed to get his bargain basement side punching above their weight, and I am sure his target for the season is just to stay in the top tier, but there is a lot more expected of Arteta and his star-studded side.
When asked about the pressure on Arteta, Dyche told FourFourTwo: “Welcome to the jungle,”
“It (the pressure) is there for all of us, seriously, it is there for all of us.
“It manifests itself very, very quickly in football nowadays, I think that’s just a reality and I certainly don’t think the manager will be worried about that, I think he’s been in the game long enough, we all know how it works.
“You take some good news and some bad news, you get on with it and there is always the next game that comes around no matter what.”
“Criticism, whether it’s justified or not, it is there, it is there for everyone to deal with in the Premier League – managers, coaches, players – that’s just part of what it is,”
“Regarding the team, I think it takes time to find the right balance for a manager and the coaches and the players.
“Every manager is looking ideally to keep clean sheets and score goals, quite obviously, in its simplest form.
“The idea of finding the right way of doing that is not always that easy, whether you’ve got very good players or not very good players, finding that balance is still an important factor.
“If you add in a little bit of noise, there’s a big expectation of Arsenal of course, generally speaking.
“I don’t know the in-house thoughts, people outside of Arsenal will have their opinion but in-house, him and his staff and players will have their own thoughts on how they’re trying to play and whether they found the right groove or not.”
To be fair to Arteta, Dyche is a lot more used to dealing with the pressure while our boss is facing his biggest crisis in his short managerial career.
He has been very clear to the Arsenal players that nothing but a win will do, but so it will be interesting to see how Arteta reacts if things don’t go our way again. But I hope we don’t have to face that problem tonight, for all our sakes…
Managers always praise opposing managers and players seeking underdog status.
Let me assure you this Burnley outfit is stronger than Real, Barca + Bayern combined an impenetrable defence total wizardry in midfield and a strikeforce which averages 23 goals a game. Only through a herculean performance can we stay within ten goals of the best side in the world. After the game though it will be all about the clash with Southampton the Saints of course being the greatest team in the Universe 🙂 And so the managerial media circus plays on.
Bravo, bravo most sensible and realistic comment all day.
Jokes aside, this is a game we should be winning, but it wont come easy.
December is make or break for Arsenal and Arteta.