DRILL SO PAINFUL
Pep knows Turf Moor score’s sore NO MORE SHIFTING SANDS FOR NUNO
Coady, Patricio, Bennett,
Boly, Traore, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Jonny, Jota, Jimenez Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters, Gudmundsson,
Mcneil, Westwood, Cork,
Barnes, Wood BURNLEY’S Johann Berg Gudmundsson knew the Clarets were doing something right when Pep Guardiola compared a game against them to a trip to the dentist.
Gudmundsson, the 28-yearold Iceland international, discovered during Euro 2016 that there is nothing more satisfying than making top teams feel the pain.
So when Manchester er
City boss Guardiola
(right) was filmed last season t elling his players that they were going to get the Turf
Moor treatment, it was s seen as a sign of how f far Burnley have come.
Midfielder Gudmundsson said: “I honestly think Pep meant it as a compliment.
“But it shows that the so-called big teams don’t like playing Burnley – especially at Turf Moor – because we have shown over the last few years that we are extremely tough to play against.
“We work hard for each other. We are all willing to run for the whole 90 minutes and make it very tough for teams to break us down.
“When you hear a top manager like Pep Guardiola say that it is like going to the dentist, NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO felt the sand under his feet before arriving at Molineux – now Wolves fans have their heads in the clouds.
It has been a one-way ride to the top since the Portuguese pitched up in the Black Country just over two years ago.
Nuno was brought up on the former Portuguese colony of Sao Tome and Principe, a set of islands off the west coast of Africa. He said: “It was a little paradise. I remember walking barefooted on the beach. I remember my grandmother and my aunties cooking on the beach and all eating on the sand.
“We left Sao Tome after a coup in 1980 and I went to live with relatives in the district
Compliment
you know that you are doing well.” Gudmundsson was part of the Iceland team that shocked the Euros by reaching the quarter-finals two years ago.
World superstar Cristiano Ronaldo whinged bitterly about the Nordic approach after they had forced a draw against Portugal.
Iceland then went on to eliminate England before being beaten by hosts France. And Gudmundsson sees similarities between club and country. An opening- day blitz of Sou Southampton was followed by a narrow 2-1 defeat at A Arsenal last week – and now Burnley travel to Wolves today b before L Liverpool com come calling. “Whether I am playing for Burnley or Iceland, we know we have to play a certain way against the big teams – and we don’t apologise for that,” he said.
“Sometimes we defend really deep, so have to play a lot more long balls to get up the pitch, and the big boys don’t like that.
“We are tough to beat and tough to break down and teams who like to play their nice football don’t get it easy.
“It is a style that has got Burnley a lot of points in the last of Barreiro (near Setubal) in Portugal. There was no longer that freedom of being able to go out without danger. I found myself closed in a flat and that shocked me.”
An essentially private man, Nuno devotes his time entirely to Wolves, while his family have remained in Portugal.
Hillside
He is far happier talking tactics than he is about life outside the game. He once talked about a place where he goes to relax, a hillside overlooking the sea in Setubal, but that is about as much background detail as can be drawn from him.
For him, football is work, ever since he realised that a career as a substitute goalkeeper was not going to materialise into few seasons – and so we will keep doing it.
“Obviously against the big teams, we are more defensive than usual but that is normal.
“We aren’t intimidated by big reputations. We enjoy playing those big games because you want to test yourself against the best in the country and the best in the world.”
Clarets boss Sean Dyche was critical of Arsenal’s approach at the Emirates last week.
Diving
Dyche accused some Gunners players of diving to con the referee.
And Gudmundsson feels that Burnley may be suffering because their manager insists that honesty is the best policy. He said: “Maybe the referees look at us a s being t oo honest.
“There have been a few i ncidents where we should have got a penalty and they haven’t given it to us. I’m not sure why.
“We are an honest group – if you get kicked you do go down and it’s a free-kick.
“Some other teams are smarter at situations like that.
“It is dancing on the line whether it’s diving or not. It’s a cute line and we try to stay on the right side of it.”
These so-called big teams don’t like playing us – especially at Turf Moor – as we’re extremely tough opponents
superstardom. He said: “I was a keeper but I spent as much time sitting on the bench as I did playing. This allowed me to see the game, to see space, to see everything. It helped me in the way I understand football now.”
He arrived in the Black Country with success at Valencia under his belt – he led the club to fourth spot in the Spanish League – and a stint in the Champions League with Porto that did not end well.
“I cannot tell you much about living in England,” he said, despite two years here.
“I arrive at work at 8.30-9am. Me and my staff, we train, we stay until three or four o’clock, we go home and have dinner together. We live to work. If it was for the pleasure of living, you would not be a manager for sure.”