Why Vincent Kompany sees a lot of similarities between Burnley and 'young' Chelsea
Vincent Kompany sees a lot of similarities between his Burnley side and today’s opponents Chelsea.
Recent research conducted by Opta found that the average age of Burnley’s starting XI’s this season has been younger than any other side.
Much has been made of Chelsea’s transfer strategy of buying young talent, but it’s also been the same for Burnley.
Given the youthfulness of Chelsea’s side, the Belgian isn’t surprised that Mauricio Pochettino’s side now appear to be picking up a little after a poor start to the season.
“It’s a young team so the one guarantee with young players is that they will always get better,” he said.
“For them to finish stronger than they started, it makes absolute sense. It’s almost the natural process they are going through.
“It’s a team with a lot of very good prospects for the future and of course they have the pressure of results always.
“It’s no different for us, we have a young team as well and the same need for results.”
Given Chelsea’s recent history, Pochettino is under intense pressure to deliver and deliver quickly at Stamford Bridge.
But with a squad of young players at his disposal, Kompany believes patience will be required.
“He’s got top players, but the mistakes they make are quite similar to our mistakes if I’m honest. He’s just got highly talented players but they’re also learning on the job,” Kompany added.
“Arsenal were not in a too dissimilar position two or three years ago, so it’s a little bit about the blend and patience. It’s not easy, for sure, but for us it’s to give ourselves a chance to solidify ourselves in the division.
“Those players in year one, they struggle, but in year two, year three, they are still progressing. It’s a strategy. You can choose another strategy, but it has different risks as well.”
Kompany added: “The pressure needs to be an internal pressure of performance, improving faster than you would anywhere else.
“Some of our players like Luca Koleosho, not for a single moment in my head I thought he was going to start as many games this season. We didn’t go out in the market thinking Wilson Odobert was going to be one of our main players, no chance. We’re not naive on that.
“But the thing is, they just imposed themselves. The biggest duty of care we have is to be honest with them when we’re reflecting on their performance and 2) support them when they make mistakes and not for me to go and say ‘they can’t do it’.
“I can’t afford to do that, because tomorrow if they do do it, my team is getting better without necessarily spending money, so that’s a good way to improve for us.”