David Coote will oversee our Premier League home game against Bournemouth on Sunday, his first Burnley game since last season’s 3-0 win over Blackburn. The fourth official will be Darren Bond, with Jarred Gillett on VAR duty.
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Clarets have countless issues, but playing out from the back isn’t their only ailment
If Burnley loses, as appears inevitable, it will be down to Vincent Kompany’s intransigence. His steadfast adherence to his ideas, desire to play from behind at any costs, and so on.
However, there is one major flaw in that viewpoint: it is inaccurate.
As fans of Burnley this season would confirm, Kompany has adapted. He adjusted his playing style.
Has it changed for the better? That is up for argument, but the numbers speak for themselves. But who knows how Burnley would have fared if they had maintained their swashbuckling style, which helped them win the Championship with 101 points last season. We simply don’t know.
Change in approach
The Clarets did start the season with that attitude, and the results were awful, losing three to Manchester City on the first day, three to Aston Villa, five to Tottenham, and four to Chelsea – Kompany’s players were far too open and far too easy to beat.
Kompany took action around the end of October/beginning of November. The idea of playing out of the back at all costs was not completely abandoned, but the Clarets preferred to pick and choose their chances.
They were still losing, but they had made some progress. First and foremost, they were competitive in games, whereas previously in the campaign, the opponent was sometimes out of sight before the game had even reached halftime. It served as a foundation for subsequent development.
But even now, if you listen to a national station, whether on TV or radio, you get the notion that Burnley wants to play gorgeous, fluent passing football, which is just not the truth.
For example, the Match of the Day experts were eager to blame Burnley’s inadequacies for Josh Brownhill’s red card against Crystal Palace over the weekend. You’re right; it was dreadful.
They focused on the widely held belief that Burnley is still punished for playing out of the back. That was not the fundamental issue with Brownhill’s departure; it was James Trafford’s poor decision-making. Trafford could have easily seen Charlie Taylor, who was in plenty of space to his left, and the Clarets could have moved up the field without incident.
Only five of Burnley’s 58 goals conceded this season have been caused by direct errors, which is maybe unexpected. It is still an issue, but it is just one among many. Not a unique incident, as Match of the Day may have you believe.
Burnley’s overall approach to Saturday’s game was not particularly possession-based. In fact, Palace, a team not known for dominating the ball, had 56% possession compared to Burnley’s 44.
And, in a short picture of Burnley’s shift in strategy, the ball was returned to Trafford straight from kickoff, and the goalie immediately played it long. Last season, this would not have been the case.
Painting a story
In fact, only two other top-flight goalkeepers have played as many long balls into the opposing box as Trafford this season. Jordan Pickford of Sean Dyche’s Everton takes the top spot, as expected.
Burnley also ranks fourth in the division for long balls. Only Everton, Sheffield United, and Luton Town have played more.
Again, this is not a defense of the altered strategy, as it has plainly not produced results. But it certainly dispels the misconception, often spread by people who have only seen Burnley in fragments this season, that they are a possession-based team that prefers to play out of the back.
Burnley ranks 12th in the division for total passes played. That puts them among Wolves, Brentford, Crystal Palace, and West Ham. Not Manchester City, Brighton, Tottenham, or so on.
Of course, they’re up against significantly superior teams in the Premier League, so it was inevitable that they wouldn’t be as dominant as they were last season. Kompany accepted this early in the campaign.
“The possession reputation comes from the fact we were the better team in the Championship,” he went on to say.
“But I strive to make it clear that I am naturally aggressive. I was an aggressive player. It’s very essential to me.
“We did so well in those circumstances last year. The difference was that we outperformed other teams in terms of ball possession. This season, whether or not we have the ball is not always in our control.”
Burnley also ranks 12th in the division for possession, with an average of 45%. Unsurprisingly, Manchester City leads with 66%, followed by Brighton on 63%.
Sheffield United and Everton lead the possession table with 36% and 38%, respectively, indicating that Burnley are still more ‘advanced’ than their fellow promoted sides, although not to the extent some may imagine.
That is not to imply Burnley has suddenly evolved into a pragmatic, long-ball outfit; clearly, this is not the case.
In fact, it raises the question: what is Burnley now? What are they standing for? Where’s the identity?
Perhaps in the long term, Burnley would have been better served sticking with last season’s tactics. But who is to know?
Context is equally important. The Clarets were getting thrashed on a regular basis, and it was impossible to continue in this manner. Kompany was left with no choice but to adapt. However, those alterations and tweaks have not yielded the intended results.
“I try and be consistent,” Kompany remarked in December. “But if you look closely at what we’ve done from the beginning to the present, you’ll notice that we’ve definitely adapted.”
“I am not sure how you give up principles, but you adapt. If you look at the positives, we’ve clearly adapted our performances, but we knew we had to.
“You can’t enter the Premier League after a season with 101 points and say, ‘I don’t believe you can do it this way.'” You must stress test it first, and then adapt.
“We’ve very clearly adapted and that’s given us the narrative of the last three or four games.”
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