'Interactive classroom': The fascinating insight of Burnley boss Vincent Kompany on what football can learn from other sports

While the Clarets boss is a big advocate of working with his players on the training field, he’s also keen to educate his squad in meetings, where he lays out his plans, talks tactics and what is required of each and every individual.

Having recently spent time with England’s rugby union side, and talking to the club’s minority shareholder JJ Watt about how things work in the NFL, Kompany believes this is a part of football that needs to be improved.

“I try to have a little bit of an interactive classroom, they’re not just sitting and listening,” he said.

“It’s one of the gaps in football that we still have in comparison to maybe some other sports, so we’re pushing it a little bit.

“It’s something that is slowly coming into the culture. Young players are used to it but if you’re a player from my generation and someone comes in for anything longer than 15 minutes twice a week, you’ll be like ‘what are we doing here?’

“That culture is certainly changing and the young players are much more receptive to it.”

During the summer, Kompany paid a visit to Steve Borthwick’s squad ahead of their World Cup preparations.

Discussing what he took from that experience in an interview with the Daily Mail, Kompany said: “That rugby culture is something for any sport to strive for.

“They’ve got really big lads who – if they wouldn’t accept what you told them as a coach – you’d be in trouble.

“But they’ve got their own values that help them almost police themselves and the respect is at the forefront of everything you see.

“They have very good innovation, you see a lot of new ideas being thrown around the building and you also try and implement those ideas, which is always the most difficult thing to do.

“But going to spend some time with them, what I really like is the tempo to the sessions and the intensity. These people are always getting ready for something tough, something physical, something that might hurt them. But they go through it and pick each other up every time.”