Dispelling a Burnley myth: Clarets have countless issues, but playing out from the back isn't their only ailment

If Burnley do go down, as looks likely, it’ll be down to Vincent Kompany’s stubbornness. His refusal to budge from his philosophy, wanting to play out from the back at all costs and so on.

Yet there’s just one fairly significant problem with that view, it’s not accurate.

As regular viewers of Burnley this season will attest to, Kompany has adapted. He has changed his style of play.

Has it changed for the better? That’s up for the debate but the numbers tell their own story. But who’s to say how Burnley would have fared had they stuck with the swashbuckling style that saw them romp to the Championship title last season with 101 points. We just don’t know.

Change in approach

The Clarets did begin the season with that approach and the results were disastrous, shipping three to Man City on the opening day, three to Aston Villa, five to Tottenham, four to Chelsea – Kompany’s men were far too open and far too easy to play against.

So Kompany took action around the end of October/start of November time. The approach of playing out from the back at all costs wasn’t abandoned entirely, but the Clarets opted to pick and choose their moments instead.

They were still losing, but they did make some progress. First and foremost, they were competitive in games, when earlier on in the campaign the opposition were often out of sight before the game had even reached halfway. It was a platform to build on.

But still to this day, if you tune into a national outlet – whether it be on TV or on the radio – you’d still get the impression Burnley are wanting to play lovely, fluent passing football, when that just isn’t the case.

Case in point, the Match of the Day pundits were quick to point out Burnley’s failings for how Josh Brownhill’s red card against Crystal Palace at the weekend came about. Quite right too, it was terrible.

They focused on the seemingly accepted myth that Burnley continue to be punished for their playing out from the back. That wasn’t really the issue with Brownhill’s dismissal though, it was James Trafford’s poor decision making. Trafford could easily have picked out Charlie Taylor, who was in plenty of space to his left, and the Clarets could have progressed up the field without any drama.

Maybe a little surprisingly, only five of the 58 goals Burnley have conceded this season have come from direct errors. It’s still been an issue, clearly, but it’s one of many. Not an isolated one Match of the Day might have you believe.

As for Saturday’s game at large, Burnley’s approach wasn’t overly possession-based. In fact Palace, a side not exactly known for dominating the ball, enjoyed 56 per cent of possession compared to Burnley’s 44.

And isolating a quick snapshot of Burnley’s change in approach, the ball was played back to Trafford straight from kick-off and the goalkeeper instantly played it long. Last season that wouldn’t have been the case.

Painting a story

In fact, looking at the numbers, only two other keepers in the top flight have played as many long balls into the opposition box as Trafford this season. Jordan Pickford, of Sean Dyche’s Everton, predictably tops the list.

Burnley also sit fourth in the division for long balls. Only Everton, Sheffield United and Luton Town have played more.

Again, this isn’t a defence of the adjusted approach because it’s clearly not brought results either. But it certainly dispels the myth, often trotted out by those who have only seen Burnley in snippets this season, that they’re a possession-based outfit hell bent on playing out from the back.

Delving into the numbers further, Burnley are 12th in the division for the total number of passes played. That puts them in the mix with the likes of Wolves, Brentford, Crystal Palace and West Ham. Not Man City, Brighton, Tottenham and so on.

Of course they’re playing far better sides in the Premier League, so it was inevitable they weren’t going to be as dominant as they were last season. This was something Kompany conceded earlier in the campaign.

“The possession reputation comes from the fact we were the better team in the Championship,” he said.

“But I try to make the point that I'm naturally aggressive. I was an aggressive player. It's such an important thing for me.

“Last year we were so good in those moments. The difference is we were better than other teams, we had more of the ball. This season, whether we have the ball or not is not always decided by us.”

In terms of possession, Burnley also rank 12th in the division with an average of 45 per cent. Man City are unsurprisingly out on their own with 66 per cent, followed by Brighton with 63.

Sheffield United and Everton prop up the possession table with 36 and 38 per cent respectively, which tells you Burnley are still more ‘progressive’ than their fellow promoted sides, but nowhere near the levels some might have you believe.

It’s not to say Burnley have suddenly transformed into a pragmatic, long ball outfit either, that’s obviously not the case.

In fact, it begs the question, what exactly are Burnley now? What do they stand for? Where’s the identity?

Perhaps, in the long run, Burnley would have been better off sticking to last season’s approach. But who’s to know?

Context is also key. The Clarets were being heavily beaten on a fairly regular basis, it was untenable to continue in the same vein. Kompany was simply left with no option but to adapt. But those changes, those tweaks haven’t had the desired effect either.

“I try and be consistent,” Kompany said back in December. “But if you look closely at what we've done from the start to now, adapting is definitely what we've done.

“I don't know how you give up principles but you adapt. If you break down the positives, the performances we've definitely adapted but we knew we had to.

“You can't come into the Premier League on the back of a season where you had 101 points and the first thing you do is say, 'I don't believe you can do it this way'. You have to 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.”