Vincent Kompany delivers verdict on Burnley's final friendly & drops transfer window hint

Vincent Kompany felt Burnley’s heavy defeat to Mainz in their final pre-season friendly wasn’t necessarily a true reflection of the game.
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The Clarets fell to a 3-0 defeat out in Germany, albeit the encounter was played out over 120 minutes, rather than the normal 90.

Kompany, however, was keen to emphasise his side more than matched their Bundesliga opponents for the first 90 minutes of the game.

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“I think it’s really important to point out after 90 minutes it was 1-0 and we had a goal disallowed that was onside, so the fair result is probably 1-1 after 90 minutes,” he told Clarets+.

“We had four or five big chances, we went one-on-one with the goalkeeper but we didn’t punish them and we got punished, which summarises for me today.

“You’ve got to create those chances and for integrating new players, we saw some very interesting things on an individual level.

“In terms of the collective, it’s no different to last season. We’re going to have to work, work and work to get the cohesion and grow as a group.”

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BURNLEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Vincent Kompany the manager of Burnley looks on as he walks off for half time during the Sky Bet Championship between Burnley and Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor on April 22, 2023 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)BURNLEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Vincent Kompany the manager of Burnley looks on as he walks off for half time during the Sky Bet Championship between Burnley and Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor on April 22, 2023 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Vincent Kompany the manager of Burnley looks on as he walks off for half time during the Sky Bet Championship between Burnley and Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor on April 22, 2023 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Kompany added: “We needed a little bit of a top-up fitness-wise, especially the new players who have come at different levels – which is normal. They’ve come from different places with different ways of building up physically.

“But in the bits they’ve done today, they’ve shown improvement from what they did last week.

“If you look at (Luca) Koleosho, he definitely deserves a mention, (Zeki) Amdouni and Nathan Redmond in moments as well, so in terms of the lads we’ve brought in to improve the team, you can see it’s a matter of time.”

The Clarets now turn their full attention to next Friday’s Premier League opener, as the reigning champions Manchester City make the trip to Turf Moor.

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When asked if his side are ready for their curtain raiser, Kompany replied: “The thing is, you’re never ready. If you ask every manager across the Premier League, they will probably say the same.

“Are we ready physically? Yes. Mentally? For sure. But in terms of what the team can become, we’ve got a solid month to still do something and we have the ambition to keep strengthening.”