Will Kompany’s Total Football Keep Burnley out of a Relegation Dogfight?
Thanks to the management of Vincent Kompany, Burnley were far and away the best team in the Championship last season. With their 101 points, 87 goals, and impressive playstyle they were promted with 7 games to spare.
On their return to the Premier League, the majority of fans and pundits predict Burnley to survive relegation comfortably. With heavy investment in transfers currently occurring, thanks to some ambitious American owners, Burnley look well set up to begin the campaign.
Following the departure of Sean Dyche at the end of the 2021/22 season, Burnley had a busy summer. Alongside a number of players leaving at the end of their contracts, the sales of Maxwell Cornet, Nick Pope, Dwight McNeil and Nathan Collins generated around £70 million. This laid the groundwork for a recruitment drive. Kompany used his knowledge of the Belgian top division to recruit talent, while also utilised links with Premier League clubs to bring in a small army of young players on loan.
Tactically, Kompany has been hugely influecned by Pep Guardiola, and has implemented the principles of the Catalan’s possessional play at Turf Moor. Last season Burnley played similarly to how Manchester City played during Kompany’s last few seasons at the club.
This consisted of manufacturing numerical advantages during build up as a means of progressing the ball, while in the attacking third, Jay Rodriguez played as a false-nine, dropping deep as the wingers made out-to-in runs into the vacated space.
Predictably, it took Burnley a few months to get to grips with Kompany’s tactical demands, as they only won 6 of their first 16 Championship games. Despite teething issues, once it clicked Burnley began brushing opposition teams aside, winning 14 out of 15 games from the end of October to mid-February, eventually only losing 3 matches all season.
Burnley’s dominance is reflected in the stats. Their average possesion of 64% was the highest in the division. And it wasn’t just possession for possession’s sake, they also topped the charts for the total number of progressive passes (1983), proving their domination of the ball also came with attacking ambition.
Kompany’s desire for the team to play on the front foot is illustrated in a video of his first meeting with the Burnley squad having taken over as he told them, ‘My passion is having teams who are looking at every opportunity to score goals’.
While Kompany’s attack-minded philosphy is certainly something to be admired, other sides who have played expansive football in the Championship, have sometimes struggled when promoted to the Premier League, just ask Norwich City.
Norwich in the 2020/21 season won the Championship at a canter, with six games to spare. They also kept, and advanced, the ball very well, averaging both the highest average possession share per game (60.4%) and the highest number of progressive passes (2116). Employing rotations, utilising width and playing short, quick passes meant they were playing football the rest of the league could not keep up with.
But on their return to the Premier League, they immediately struggled. Emi Buendía was sold to Aston Villa and Norwich failed to recruit appropriately for the challenge of the top flight. Daniel Farke went into the season ill-equipped and their Championship playstyle, with now inferior players to their opposition was not effective in getting results.
Brentford were also promoted to the Premier League alongside Norwich in the 2020/21 season, however were far more effective in adapting their playstyle to give them the best possible chance against sides with far greater resources.
In the two seasons under Thomas Frank prior to Brentford’s promotion run, the club was in the top three in the division for both possession and progressive passes, showing their ability to retain the ball but consistently attack. This style was slightly altered in their final season in the Championship, as Frank began playing three centre-backs and playing more vertical football into Ivan Toney.
In the Premier League, Brentford adapted further, disrupting the division’s richest sides with their direct play and use of corners, free kicks and throw-ins. In fact, Brentford scored the fourth most goals from set pieces in their debut season and overall scored 25 more goals than Norwich, as they coasted to a 13th place finish.
Only in the latter parts of last season, Brentford’s second in the Premier League, have they began playing more with the ball at their feet, having consolidated their position in England’s top flight.
So will Kompany look to adapt his playstlyle in the short term in an effort to bridge the gap in resources, and therefore skill, with the richer clubs. Should he?
It is reasonable to suggest that Burnley will not go the way of Norwich for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Kompany has developed a squad that are capable of scoring goals from everywhere. Last season Burnley had 19 different goalscorers in the league. For context, in the Premier League, Arsenal had 16 different scorers, while Manchester City had only 12. Norwich had 16 scorers during their 2020/21 promotion season, but it is worth noting that Teemu Pukki scored over a third of their total goals himself, while Nathan Tella, Burnley’s top scorer, scored under 20% of their total last campaign.
Norwich’s over-reliance on Teemu Pukki was obvious from the outset as he scored 11 of Norwich’s 23 goals in their 2021/22 Premier League relegation. It became evident to sides that if you stop Pukki, Norwich won’t score. An ability to hurt opposition from a number of positions, using a variety of players should stand the Clarets in good stead.
Burnley were also very solid defensively last season. Norwich and Burnley had comparable possession statistics in their promotion seasons, yet Norwich had a far higher expected goals against (xGA). Norwich’s xGA was 52, the ninth best in the league, far higher than Burnley’s 38.2, the best in the Championship last season.
Defensive fragility is often an issue in expansive, newly promoted sides, but Kompany’s Burnley have consistently shown their ability to limit the opposition to poor quality chances.
Turf Moor will also be a benefit to Burnley. Last season Nottingham Forest made the City Ground a fortress, and while Burnley’s football has changed, their home stadium will still be full of supporters accustomed to playing the role of underdog in the Premier League. The hostility of the ground, coupled with Kompany’s desire for aggression in all aspects of the game should make their home a hard place to visit.
Burnely were not afraid to use set pieces to their advantage last season as well, scoring 13 goals from them in total, the 8th highest. In contrast, Norwich in the 2020/21 season, scored 8, the joint lowest number in the division. This proves that while Burnley most excelled with the ball on the floor, they were happy to maximise their use of set pieces also.
Stability in a football club can never be overrated, and Burnley appear to have that currently. With the return to Premier League broadcasting money, Burnley will likely make a profit in the 23/24 season. Burnley’s ownership are ambitious and give Kompany and his ideas their full backing. Compare this with some current Premier League sides, and you will find clubs where off the field issues often take centre stage.
Burnley have lost a number of key players they had on loan last season and have moved early to bolster their squad this summer. Not only are they investing in young talent, most notably England under-21 Euros winning goalkeeper James Trafford, but also adding players with Premier League experience including Nathan Redmond and Dara O’Shea.
Finally, while Kompany has his core principles, he is adaptable. In the opening third of the Championship season, Burnley found that their full-backs pushing forward meant that they were susceptible to being caught by counter-attacks as opponents fired balls into the empty wide spaces. Kompany responded by changing the shape of the team in possession to protect themselves when in transition, making it harder for the opposition to catch them out if they lost the ball.
The Belgian is evidently not only a great coach, but also a strong tactician and good problem solver.
While sides that excelled in the Championship due to their possession-heavy styles of play have sometimes been faced with an ‘adapt or die’ ultimatum when reaching the Premier League, Burnley will likely be able to find a middle ground.
The carefully considered recruitment that happened last summer, and that is currently going on now, is crafting Kompany a side perfectly suited to his philosophy. With the club so streamlined to suit his needs, and with Kompany so far demonstrating himself to be such a dilligent and tactically astute coach Burnley should be able to pick up enough points to maintain their place in the top-flight.
Kompany may need a ‘Plan B’ for games against the division strongest sides, but don’t be surprised if next season Burnley bring their own brand of total football to a ground near you.
