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BERGE BELIEVES CLARETS ‘SHOWED OURSELVES’ TODAY

March 4, 2024 3:35 pm

Positives to focus on for midfielder

Sander Berge felt the Clarets dominated Sunday’s encounter against the Cherries, which he said makes the defeat a tough one to take.

Speaking after the game, with positives to take, the Norwegian was asked was it a case of a score line not necessarily reflecting a performance?

“Yes definitely, I mean the struggle we’ve been through this season and obviously two poor, poor games lately with the Arsenal and Palace games. I think we came out and were ourselves today. We really wanted to show and play without fear, being brave, everyone wanting to enjoy the moment and go out and show their qualities.

“I think we were very front footed, created all those chances, played out from the back, got so many times into their box and just in general I just felt we were dominating it from the first minute to the last – obviously there were spells where not that much but in general we can say we had all the shots on goal and we were getting into dangerous areas all the time. Winning the ball back, I don’t think they had much more than the two goals which isn’t good enough. The first one is unfortunate, the timing of it, especially when we’re coming out there, the fans are behind us, they’re seeing us go forward, we’re ourselves, believing, we’re positive, aggressive. I think everyone played with the extra spark today which is needed at this difficult time. It defines character and this is the performance we have to get back to and it’s been a while since we’ve dominated a game like this.”

Following the disappointment of last weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace, the midfielder was pleased to see the side show a level of performance and intensity that he felt was ‘more them’.

“At the moment it feels like we don’t get that reward we’re looking for; we’re fighting for and working hard for every day. You know, sometimes an early goal can change everything and obviously when we come out like that, they get it, and it’s a difficult time. But I didn’t think it set us back in any way in our performance and our mindset. We kept on going. It’s happened so many times now so it’s not easy to watch from the stands, seeing especially today a good performance and we’re not getting the luck.

“For us it’s always about the next one, getting better and I really believe that if we bring the personality and the performances like this then it won’t be about coincidences, and we won’t lose games like this anymore. But then the standard has to be again playing at this level with it today because otherwise you’ll never get near winning a game in the Premier League. And this shows why, I think we were probably close to our best today, if not even the best performance of the season. Obviously, we beat Sheffield United 5-0, and we’ve had other good games but how we want to play for 90 minutes I think this is us, and even today we lost. It just sets the standard high for us and I think we have to bring what we did today but also find out what we can do better to get the result we want, because that’s what matters.”

With 20 shots on goal throughout the game and one from Josh Cullen that was disallowed, Berge was asked whether he felt it shows how cruel top-flight football can be, with positive performances not always resulting in points as teams can punish you.

“I think we’ve learnt that this season. The West Ham, Palace games at home, similar games. The Palace game was probably a little bit similar; they got an early goal, and we kept on pressing and they got a late one. In the West Ham game, we were winning and then they turned it around, so you have to be at your best every single action throughout the whole game because they punish you weekly.

“I think this was the first game since those games where we’ve really been dominating. Obviously, it’s a lot of games to play in this league and there’s some really, really good teams but even Bournemouth and other teams they have power and strength going forward and players who can score a goal out of nothing and that just shows, and that’s what we have to learn from.

“Being where we are and we’ve been through difficult periods since we started out, coming from the back, really wanting results, fighting and trying to be positive. I think today just at least shows character and a dressing room that really wants to go for it. We’ll always look for the next challenge. Today is a devastating and brutal one to take but walking off that pitch, I can tell by the fans that we were closer to where we want to be.”

Berge’s teammate Charlie Taylor was asked in the week leading up to the game what a win would do for morale and whilst the 26-year-old agrees it would give a boost, he believes that despite today’s defeat a positive mindset is imperative moving into a new week.

“I think that’s what we’ve been doing all year, obviously for us it’s always about improving, we’re a young team. But I think what stands out from this football club is our mentality, the standards that we set every day, the positivity and the mindset to improve and get better despite the circumstances we’re in.

“I think we wouldn’t have come out the way we did today if we weren’t trained like that and we didn’t have the values of hard work, like we always put first, and that has to be the main thing. Everyone wants to go out and finally give the fans a win and ourselves a win, because that can just change the whole momentum. Obviously getting the feel of three points and scoring a goal, which will give us that.”

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