From cake ban to beautiful football: The success story of Vincent Kompany at Burnley

Vincent Kompany has done a remarkable work at Burnley in a short period of time. The Belgian has secured promotion for the Clarets with seven matches left to play.

The club who were relegated under former boss Sean Dyche in the 2021/2022 premier league season, sealed their promotion back to the top flight after their 2-1 away win at Middlesbrough. Burnley confirmed their return in an amazing manner despite 7 more EFL games left.

Kompany who is now a transfer target by Tottenham was appointed as Burnley’s new manager in June 2022, following the sack of the ex-boss. The former Man City captain has had an immediate impact at the club, with a transformed style of play.

During Sean Dyche’s ten-year reign at the club, Burnley were known for their defensive and long balls style of football. Admittedly they had productive end results, being that they spent six consecutive years in the EPL. However, they were mostly criticized for their unattractive pattern of play.

All these seem to have changed under the new boss, as he has adopted a pattern similar to his former boss at City.

Kompany has adopted a pattern that is almost similar in style to Pep Guardiola’s ideology, which lays emphasis on fluidity and attacking football. This approach has culminated in a positive output, with the newly promoted side scoring an amazing 76 goals in 39 games, almost averaging 2 goals in every game.

Apart from changing the team’s tactics, the 37-year-old also placed a birthday cake ban on the team.

Celebration of birthdays with cakes had been a tradition under the leadership of Sean Dyche, however, upon finding out, Vincent Kompany immediately put a stop to this routine.

It was during Jack Cork’s birthday celebration at Burnley’s pre-season camp, that the Manager discovered the routine. And he immediately put a stop to it, establishing a ‘No cake policy’ at the team’s training base.

It appears all the disciplinary sacrifices and tactics have worked tremendously for him, and perhaps it has propelled him as a transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur, who are still in search of Antonio Conte’s replacement.