Ex-Everton and Tottenham man Townsend on Burnley trial
Andros Townsend admits he was disappointed not to sign for Burnley following a trial period during pre-season.
The former England international impressed against Benfica and was set to sign a contract at Turf Moor.
However, the club decided to go in a different direction and Townsend is now searching for a new opportunity.
“At the end of June, I was invited to go and train at Burnley to keep fit and get going,” he told talkSPORT.
“They realised I’ve still got what it takes so the manager pulled me in his office and said ‘We are interested, we are going to take you on tour to Portugal and see you against high level opposition’.
“I went to Portugal and played a couple of games. I played very well against Benfica and got 90 minutes. The next day, I was offered a one-year deal.”
Townsend is a free agent after his deal at Everton expired over the summer. The experienced wideman missed last season due to a knee injury.
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“I got back to England and went for a medical straight away,” he continued. “I passed the medical and thought, ‘I am ready to sign’.
“As I’m in the shower getting ready to see the chief executive because the contract was almost ready, somebody from the coaching staff says, ‘the manager wants to see you in his office whenever you’re done’.
“I got ready, got dressed and went to see the manager. For one reason or another, the contract was no longer on the table for reasons I didn’t understand.
“It’s recently come out in the press conference that the manager said other options they were looking at had become available and injuries they had in the building had come back sooner than they thought.
“It’s a decision I didn’t agree with, but that’s life. We shook hands, hugged it out, went our separate ways and now I’m here looking for another opportunity.”
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Ederson shows off Man City ‘weapon’ to prompt Erling Haaland hopes
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson came in for some criticism last season that has followed him into the new campaign
It says a lot about the confidence of Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford that he went into the opening weekend without Erling Haaland in his fantasy team and with himself as vice-captain.
It took the Manchester City phenomenon less than four minutes to show up the high-risk gamble, but despite conceding three on the night and losing early ground in his mini leagues it was a decent debut for Trafford. As good a prospect as he looks though, at the other end of the pitch Ederson was giving a masterclass in the type of performance that an increasing number of keepers and clubs in the league are aiming for.
City may have scored early but they came under regular pressure from Burnley in the first half, who man-marked and pressed high and aggressively. They used similar tactics to last season in their FA Cup meeting, and caused the Blues similar problems.
That often left Ederson as the spare man, left looking for a pass forward with all of his teammates marked. It was very good from Burnley, but Ederson is even better.
Manu Akanji (with 101) was the only player on the pitch to make more passes than him and more than 80 per cent of the Brazilian’s 70 were accurate. That is even more impressive when considering 28 – so four in every ten – were long balls punted forward to try and play over the top of Burnley’s press.
Whether it was for Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez or Erling Haaland, the long balls into the opposition half stretched the Burnley defence to breaking point as a number of half-chances were opened up by the power and accuracy of Ederson. Guardiola described it afterwards as “another weapon we have to use” against teams using that level of marking, and Haaland was licking his lips as he called for City to use it more often.
Whether Haaland’s prediction of more teams going man-to-man against them this year comes true remains to be seen, but one thing that was clear at Burnley is Ederson’s status. Stefan Ortega grew an army of followers last season pushing for him to become the new No.1 and he impressed again at Wembley in the Community Shield, yet Ederson picked up exactly where he left off from the Champions League final.
Ederson won plaudits in the final three rounds of City’s European triumph last season for his shot-stopping – an attribute he was not used to showcasing – but against Burnley he was back to doing what he does best: giving City an extra man to turn defence into attack with that shotgun of a left boot and an immense footballing brain to know what the right pass is.
When City feel the weapon is required, Ederson is still the best chance of it working.
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