Arsenal midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga says he was taken aback by Burnley’s style of play as the Gunners battled to a hard-fought 1-0 win at Turf Moor last weekend.
The Belgian only played for 30 minutes against the Clarets after coming on as a substitute, but he says he has never experienced a game of football quite like it:
“It was a crazy game! They cross from everywhere and I was not used to it. People told me, ‘you’re going to see this is the real Premier League, typical English way to play’. I was not expecting this kind of play.”
Burnley do have a very unique brand of old school English football, but supporters on Twitter think Lokonga must get used to the various challenges that the Premier League presents:
His head must have been spinning
— KwameA_B (@KwameAA_B) September 20, 2021
Prem looks like Sunday league when it hits the 80th minute
— RUDY DE LEON 🦁 (@rudyantonio_RD) September 20, 2021
He’s handled it really well so far! Can only progress
— #KroenkeOut #EkIn (@C99Cody1) September 20, 2021
Welcome to pragmatic football
— BoB (@OmmaniBob) September 20, 2021
Burnley is mini Liverpool haha
— _afrakan (@_afrakan) September 21, 2021
Dyche ball
— Cameron (@CameronWraith) September 21, 2021
The best league itw for a reason
— Masbukhin Hidayat (@masbukhin17) September 21, 2021
To be fair thats just Burnley
— arealarsenalfan (@Arealarsenalfan) September 21, 2021
And he hasn’t played Liverpool yet
— Drunk Metabolite (@Jugernaut_) September 21, 2021
I think it’s great that he’s so open and honest about it. And he handled a new experience for him well. He will only get better. This should be welcomed by all fans.
— Richard Sharp (@richardpsharp) September 21, 2021
Lokonga won’t be coming up against teams like Burnley every week but, unlike the football he was used to in Belgium, the Premier League has a variety of different styles of play that have to be faced.
The midfielder has already shown, though, that he is adapting well to life in England, having put in some very good performances in the opening weeks of the season.
