After a troublesome Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich look prone to rent Burnley head coach Vincent Kompany as their new head coach.
Kompany, who received the Premier League 4 occasions as a participant with Manchester Metropolis and realized German throughout his time as a participant with Hamburger SV, is seen as one of many high up-and-coming head coaches.
He began his teaching profession at Belgian aspect Anderlecht, who he led to a cup remaining in 2022, earlier than transferring to English aspect Burnley, the place he received promotion again to the Premier League in 2022/23, amassing greater than 100 factors within the EFL Championship whereas enjoying a mode of soccer very totally different from Burnley’s extra direct strategy below earlier boss Sean Dyche.
However this season, regardless of spending extra on transfers than different groups within the decrease a part of the Premier League, and regardless of two of their relegation rivals getting given factors deductions, Burnley had been relegated this season after ending nineteenth within the league desk.
Burnley received simply 5 league video games all season, two of which got here towards bottom-of-the-league Sheffield United, and solely scored 41 objectives, the second fewest within the league.
So why are Bayern Munich desirous about Kompany?
A part of the reason being that so many high golf equipment are searching for new head coaches and there aren’t that many choices obtainable. In a great world, Bayern may need needed the likes of Xabi Alonso, who led Bayer Leverkusen to an undefeated Bundesliga season, or Arne Slot, who has simply joined Liverpool. The Bavarian membership had been additionally reportedly turned down by Julian Nagelsmann and Ralf Rangnick.
Another excuse is that there are some caveats to Burnley’s relegation. The gulf between the Championship and the Premier League is big, and newly promoted sides must spend huge to have any likelihood of survival. Burnley’s spending appears even increased as a result of the Clarets primarily focused up-and-coming younger skills like goalkeeper James Trafford, paying a premium for his or her potential to be stars a number of years down the road and for his or her excessive resale worth.
The primary purpose Kompany is within the operating for German soccer’s greatest job although is the type of play he appeared to introduce at Burnley.
Kompany tried to get Burnley to construct from the again and play a possession-based type of soccer, with the twelfth most possession, twelfth most passes with a median of 432 per recreation, and twelfth finest passing accuracy within the Premier League, whereas making only a few crosses or counter-attacks. They had been mainly the second finest workforce within the backside half on the subject of passing the ball across the pitch. This enjoying type begins with Burnley’s goalkeepers, James Trafford and Arijanet Muric, whose 1826 mixed passes had been greater than the goalkeepers of some other Premier League workforce.
The statistics present that Kompany bought Burnley enjoying an easy-on-the-eye type of soccer, but it surely lacked a innovative, with the Lancashire aspect unable to create possibilities within the penalty space, and subsequently having the worst anticipated objectives per shot within the league.
Relegation shouldn’t essentially be a blot on a head coach’s profession. Even Jurgen Klopp, whereas at Mainz, bought relegated. However some Burnley followers should be questioning whether or not a extra pragmatic strategy may need given them a greater likelihood of Premier League survival.
Within the 2022/23 season, Steve Cooper tried enjoying a extra expansive type of soccer with Nottingham Forest, however after a 4-0 loss to Leicester Metropolis, he modified to a extra defense-first strategy that ultimately stored Forest within the Premier League.
Sean Dyche this season at Everton has performed a mode of soccer that some followers see as unwatchable, but it surely has stored Everton comfortably within the Premier League regardless of an eight-point deduction, and the Toffees would have completed even increased up the desk had Dominic Calvert-Lewin been in a position to end. Solely Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez had a much bigger deficit between anticipated objectives and precise objectives scored than the Everton striker. Dyche mentioned after beating Liverpool 2-0 that he needed “to play lovely soccer if I can, however I wish to play successful soccer first.”
And in latest seasons, David Moyes’ supposedly ugly soccer took West Ham United to a European trophy and their most profitable spell within the Premier League in a very long time.
Head coaches wanting on the contrasting fates of Vincent Kompany, who’s getting ready to one of many greatest jobs in soccer, and David Moyes, who left West Ham United this month, should be questioning whether or not lovely soccer trumps successful soccer.
Moyes and Dyche may be successful ugly, however Kompany’s lovely defeats look to be higher for his profession.