Conte's pitch battle at the Turf
Robbie Brady’s magnificent free kick earned Burnley a deserved point, after Pedro’s early opener, as Sean Dyche’s side claimed a 29th home point of the season.
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Hide AdOnly Chelsea and Spurs have claimed more points at home, and, asked afterwards why sides are finding it so difficult at Turf Moor, Conte said: “The pitch is small and this is better for the team that has to defend and play this long ball.You have less pitch to cover.”
Yet, at Stamford Bridge, the pitch is recorded at 103x67 metres, with Turf Moor actually 115x73m, having been extended in the summer to meet Premier League standard dimensions!
Conte did go on to say: “There is a good atmosphere with the supporters and I think it’s good.
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Hide Ad“It’s right to have this type of atmosphere at Burnley and for all these reasons they have all these points in the table.
“We put a lot of energy on the pitch and we took only one point. We found a team that thought to disrupt our football, to play this long ball and to fight the second ball.”
Dyche took little notice of what could be perceived as another ‘long ball’ dig from an opposing manager: “Every manager has to give their opinion, I try to give mine about my team, but simplistic, or non simplistic, so far this season we’ve got 30 points, and that’s a fantastic marker so far.
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Hide Ad“We know we need more, but everyone thought we had no chance, so to get where we are...I don’t think it’s disrespectful, he doesn’t know the work we do on the training ground, the depth of analysis and all the detail we use. His job is to crack on with Chelsea and he’s doing a blooming good job!”
And he explained his way of trying to find a solution to the many problems sides at this level pose: “If we went into the Premier League and did what everyone else does, I don’t think we’d be as good at it as them.
“So we do things they’re not used to, that make it awkward and different for them, that make it strange for them, and that’s a key thing.
“I mention it many times, the brand of football I want to play is one that wins.
“The rest can do whatever they want, I have no issue with people talking about whatever way they want to play.”