Vincent Kompany exclusive interview: Burnley manager on 18 months at Turf Moor and the return of Sean Dyche | Football News

Friday marked exactly 18 months since Vincent Kompany was appointed Burnley boss. It has been fairly the year-and-a-half for the Belgian at Turf Moor.

Having returned to the Premier League at the first try as Championship title winners, the problem now’s to evolve again right into a top-flight membership succesful of retaining a model of soccer that led to many neutrals tipping them to keep away from their present predicament.

Burnley stay in the Premier League relegation locations regardless of selecting up 4 factors from their final three video games. The Clarets wish to make historical past. None of the seven groups in earlier seasons to take eight factors or fewer from their first 16 video games have survived relegation.

Reflecting on his first 18 months in cost, Kompany completely instructed Sky Sports: “It’s not what I anticipated however it’s turned out to be an unbelievable choice from my aspect and one of the greatest choices I’ve made in my life to decide to this membership.

“I’ve been capable of meet some excellent individuals, labored with some very gifted gamers and of course the expertise of successful the league and how we did it final season was very distinctive.

“Every bit of it I’d say has exceeded expectations and I hope there’s plenty more to come. I feel this club still has ambitions that are very exciting to everyone.”

That stated, Burnley and the two different promoted groups have found simply how tough it’s to translate successful most weeks in the Championship to Premier League factors.

What has irked Kompany is how his aspect have surrendered 16 factors from successful positions. Burnley could be in the high half had they held all factors – however simply competing in opposition to the nation’s greatest so quickly after his arrival in June 2022 is one thing that helps the manager’s view that there’s loads of scope for enchancment.

“We have to say we’re ahead of schedule,” added Kompany. “When I used to be appointed right here, there was the prospect of dropping each senior participant. Those who had executed so nicely in the earlier period in the Premier League have been leaving and we weren’t getting quite a bit of cash for it.

“We weren’t actually capable of construct a robust, robust squad. We had a debt compensation arising however I knew from the chairman (Alan Pace) that we had a three-year plan.

“Within those three years, any of them would have been a good year [had we got promoted]. As things happened, after the recruitment period we ended up coming out of it stronger than we expected and things have moved on very quickly from there.”

‘Dyche is my Burnley reference level’

Sean Dyche faces Burnley in the Premier League for the first time since being sacked in April 2022, 610 days in the past. Remarkably, it’s the first time he will probably be in the visiting dugout at Turf Moor since his first recreation as a manager, when Watford drew 2-2 in the Championship again in August 2011.

The Everton boss stays a revered determine in these components after a 10-year reign during which he gained two promotions, completed as excessive as seventh in the Premier League and secured European soccer.

If he have been to make a fast detour to the pub which bears his identify on his approach dwelling, Dyche will not discover the chill of the winter’s night time or the rain in the air. Off the pitch, Everton have been synonymous with disaster, however on it, beneath the former Burnley manager, they’re a crew in development.

Its contours grew to become extra seen after three league wins arrived throughout a shocking eight-day interval this month. The spotlight for supporters has been described as the “Ole x 29” – when 29 passes left Newcastle chasing shadows and completed with Beto including the gloss to a good-looking 3-0 victory.

Dyche-ball, simply not as you already know it. But for these educated on both aspect of the divide, the man returning to the scene of such fond recollections as soon as oversaw an analogous objective in the reverse dug-out as Burnley gained 1-0 at Goodison Park again in October 2017, when Jeff Hendrick supplied the remaining flourish following a 24-pass sequence.

Attitudes in the direction of Dyche are altering amongst the wider viewers, and there will probably be only a few in attendance come Saturday teatime that also want changing. Burnley royalty is coming to city however Kompany is not about to roll out the claret carpet. There is not any room for sentiment as the hosts search back-to-back dwelling wins.

“Every club has its reference ‘person’,” he admitted. “For Everton in recent times that could be David Moyes. Manchester City could have Pep Guardiola and Arsenal have Arsene Wenger.

“Everybody that has come after them could have an ambition to respect the values that made the membership robust in these instances, but in addition look to carry it again to these days and no matter occurs past.

“Sean has been a really particular individual for this membership and the place we have been actually robust in the 18 months I’ve been right here has been in our unimaginable effort, character and the sacrifices we have made for one another. I can think about these qualities have been at the forefront of every part Sean did right here.

“It lives on this place. It was there earlier than me, and it has continued to reside right here ever since.”

The Belgian is overseeing a brand new technology and period for the membership that grew to become a byword for overachievers beneath his predecessor.

Everton’s 10-point deduction means they hover simply 4 factors above the backside three – however nothing this season about Burnley’s subsequent opponents suggests they’re half of the relegation mini-league, in accordance with Kompany.

The guests to Turf Moor could also be the nearest aspect to the drop zone who will be reeled into larger peril – however performances all through the season point out, in accordance with the former Manchester City defender, that the aspect will solely pull additional away from hassle in the coming months.

For Kompany, a serial winner as a participant at City in the Premier League, making the transition to a manager of a crew at the reverse finish of the division hasn’t been an alien expertise.

“You don’t start a winner, you become one,” he says. “Yes, I gained quite a bit of video games as a participant however I’ve additionally misplaced them and I’ve been injured. I used to be not capable of play quite a bit of video games so there are varieties of defeat.

“At this second in time, I’m solely involved with one factor and that’s the means of this crew to get to a greater stage. I’m solely centered on us getting higher performances and outcomes.

“In large parts, we’ve done that. In recent weeks, we’ve been really competitive. We’ve started getting results but the team can reward itself a little bit more. It’s now about adding that edge to finish off teams and win as many games as deserve to be winning.”

Kompany sticking to ideas in search of outcomes

The arrival of Kompany at the begin of the final marketing campaign noticed them utterly overhaul their taking part in type and squad profile, recording the highest common possession (65 per cent) on Championship file and shaving 4 years off the common age of the crew.

But they’ve struggled to impose themselves again in the high flight with them rating mid-table in passing type metrics and their anticipated targets stats at each ends of the pitch are worse than their relegation season.

Kompany, nonetheless, already feels his aspect have turned a nook.

“When I look again at our season thus far, I believe the Crystal Palace recreation (a 2-0 dwelling defeat) was a giant second.

“That’s once we dominated an opponent and deserved to win. We have been higher than them however we simply could not convert the efficiency right into a end result.

“Before then, we could not say we had too many video games like that, the place we simply could not get it over the line. We had an excellent efficiency at Nottingham Forest and in opposition to Luton however since the Palace defeat, we have been persistently in video games.

“Whether it was at Wolves or at dwelling to West Ham, or Arsenal away… we have actually competed in each recreation since that Palace end result. For some time now, the crew has been switched on to the stage of this league, however it’s been a case of us not with the ability to make the distinction in these key moments.

“That’s what we’re nonetheless working on however it’s been the case for all the promoted groups and it is half of attending to the stage required. If you look at the possibilities we have created, how we have got ourselves into the proper positions and the targets we have scored it is vital to carry on to what makes us nonetheless harmful.

“I invite my crew to press excessive up the pitch because it’s in our approach of pondering and we have persistently created possibilities on this method. Now, we’ve the perception that we are able to play nicely.

“That does not imply simply placing 15 passes collectively, however being compact, successful your duels and managing video games. At the similar time, I need to hold what makes us particular. We’ve been on that trajectory however we should not count on our crew to develop with out problem.

“We know there will still be obstacles in the future but our mission is to get the points and we feel that if we continue to stick to our way of playing, we will get results.”

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