Kompany will use Pep’s teachings to bring back Burnley
VINCENT KOMPANY remembers arriving at Manchester City just a few days before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 and finding a training ground that didn’t have a coffee machine or a toilet door.
As he got his feet under the table as Burnley manager yesterday, the decorated former City skipper was asked if there were comparisons between the club he joined in 2008 and the one he has chosen for his return to English football.
‘This club is 10 times better,’ replied Kompany emphatically at Burnley’s training complex. ‘This was Manchester City when it got taken over. It’s a state-ofthe-art facility: fantastic pitches and everything we need to be extremely demanding with the players.
‘But it’s a different era. Every club has invested since and Burnley are the same. It’s an incredible work environment. ‘City at the time was what it was. It was City. You just enjoyed playing for them and never expected much. It wasn’t about luxuries. This is a Premier League facility, really impressive.’
The reality, however, is that Burnley are no longer a Premier League club. Relegation last month means the repayment of a large chunk of a £65million loan and the departure of half the first-team squad.
Having cut his managerial teeth in difficult circumstances back in Belgium with Anderlecht, Kompany has walked into the job with his eyes wide open. ‘I’m prepared for any scenario,’ he added. ‘It’s really a very delicate and dangerous period of time when you’ve got these transitions. You can fall very far down or go very quickly back up. ‘The difference between left and right is massive, but just small details. Obviously in my previous job (at Anderlecht) I ended up the wrong side of it. We’d already gone too far down the wrong path, and I can see it cripples the club. I’m happy to be here for the long term.’ Kompany, who won 10 major trophies in 11 years at City, refused to say whether he spoke to Pep Guardiola before taking the job at Turf Moor. However, he will be drawing on Guardiola’s style of management, if not his style of football.
‘I met this fantastic coach, the best in the world,’ said Kompany. ‘The simple thing I took from Pep wasn’t a style of football, it’s that he was the very best at telling his players why they were doing things on the pitch; why you pass in a certain way, why you defend in a certain way. I will always be able to tell my players why they are doing something.’ It’s no surprise Kompany could turn to City for new players. He is expected to sign defender CJ Egan-Riley and has been linked with Taylor HarwoodBellis, who had a difficult spell under him on loan at Anderlecht. Burnley are also close to signing defender Dan Ballard from Arsenal and midfielder Scott Twine from MK Dons. Kompany, 36, also confirmed that former City team-mate Craig Bellamy is set to join him on the coaching staff at Turf Moor, despite leaving his role as assistant coach at Anderlecht last September due to mental health reasons.
‘He’s someone I have huge respect for,’ said Kompany. ‘He’s incredibly gifted and he’s a typical misunderstood guy who gives so much. If I can have him with me, I will.’ Kompany, whose father was a Congolese immigrant to Belgium, was asked for this thoughts about the infamous ‘White Lives Matter’ banner that was flown over Turf Moor two years ago.
‘If you start judging an entire organisation and the people and players because a couple of idiots are flying a banner, there’s no way I would associate the football club with this,’ he said. ‘It’s not black or white, you come in and you work hard together to build something. Sometimes you change mentalities in that way. ‘I have come in to coach a football club, to write a story. I always stay by my principles no matter what.’