Vincent Kompany has not lost a single game while playing with Burnley at home this season. Everyone expected Burnley to go up to the Championship soon. But Vincent Kompany made them unbeatable and set them as the top side in the 2nd tier. It was proven after they won their match against Middlesbrough which put them in a high place. Now, let’s look how they managed to do that!
Kompany’s Stunning Revival of Burnley
Kompany, who’s 36 years old, recently came back to England after two years managing a soccer team in Belgium. At the end of last season he left that team by mutual agreement.
His arrival at Turf Moor caused some astonishment because Kompany had only ever been part of the Premier League during his time as a player with City before. This appointment proved that Burnley was serious about getting better.
The club had a really bad season and got kicked down from the top league. During this, they also had to pay back a big chunk of money ($65 million) that they borrowed from an American company.
The team earned money when some of their senior players were transferred to other teams. Goalkeeper Nick Pope went to Newcastle, defender Nathan Collins moved to Wolves and winger Dwight McNeill was sold to Everton. Defender Ben Mee and James Tarkowski were also freed from the team and joined Brentford and Everton respectively. The team got some new players from Belgium, including midfielder Josh Cullen from Anderlecht and winger Anass Zaroury from Charleroi.
Burnley signed Nathan Tella from Southampton and Ian Maatsen from Chelsea on loan, while their manager Vincent Kompany contacted Manchester City to find Ari Muric as a goalkeeper and Taylor Harwood-Bellis as a defender. As all of this was happening, people were really impressed with how Kompany led the team and ignored their financial issues.
At the start it looked like this campaign might not be very important, but Kompany worked hard to change that. After they beat Huddersfield in their first game, Burnley drew three games and lost one of their next four matches. In a heated match they even gave up a 3-1 lead against rivals Blackpool at Turf Moor.
Ever since Manchester City manager Vincencent Kompany took the job, he has greatly improved the team. He brought in over twenty new players and they have done amazingly well this season as they’ve only lost once! Glen Little, who works with SoccerNewsCenter Lancashire’s commentary team said that they are “unbelievable” and clearly much better than last year under Sean Dyche.
Some new players have made an immediate impact for Burnley team and one of them, Tella from Southampton, has been scoring lots of goals. The manager Kompany has changed the way the club plays and now many spectators are enjoying watching them play.
The team has done amazingly this season and only lost twice. They’ve scored more goals than any other team in the Championship while also giving up fewer goals too. Now they want to make their squad even better so that they can be promoted back into the top level of football and remain there.
Kompany’s Plan Reaping Rewards
Burnley has been doing really well lately. They haven’t lost a game in the league for 19 matches and their last Championship loss was against another team that is hoping to get promoted, Sheffield United, way back in November. Following the World Cup break, they kept up their impressive streak going.
Andy Bayes from SportNewsCenter Radio Lancashire said that Burnley’s return to the Premier League has been very likely since they made nine consecutive wins in the Championship after their break for the World Cup. They were able to do this with a lot of flair and great scoring abilities, which also made their games a treat to watch. Even when Sean Dyche was coaching them, they still managed to keep up their spot in the top flight.
Since Vincent Kompany has taken charge, the style of football they play has been evident. They like to move the ball around quickly and start plays from the back. He has also been given money to bring in players who weren’t famous before arriving. It’ll be interesting to see how Manuel Benson, Zaroury and Cullen will perform during next season in top-tier games.
Despite buying new players, Kompany kept many of the existing ones and made them all get along. His plan worked really well and his team looks like they could be the first team in 11 years to go through a whole season of Championship games without losing at home, which would mean winning the title for that level of play.
Kompany’s coaching has made some veterans of the team shine as well. Charlie Taylor, who usually plays as a left-back, is now taking up the center back position. Additionally, Jay Rodriguez and Ashley Barnes have been doing a great job leading the line and Josh Brownhill and Jack Cork are making sure that no one gets past them in defense.
The loan signings have also been really important! Harwood-Bellis, Maatsen and Tella seem to be ready for anything that comes their way.
Next season, Kompany and his team will face a tough challenge. People are congratulating the manager and players for doing a great job so far with their new squad as they have made it look easy to win games in the Championship. We probably won’t see them back Down Under anytime soon.
