Kompany got too 'entrenched in his perfect system'published at 13:08
Natalie Bromley
Fan writer
Thank goodness that is all over with. It has been coming since around November, but the Clarets finally succumbed to relegation. They had to beat Tottenham away and they did not.
As has been the case all season, Burnley failed to punish a side who they could have beaten. A good friend of mine - a Spurs fan - had some painfully accurate observations about the game. I am grateful for his input this week.
It went a little like this: "A side that has lost four games in a row has a weakness at set pieces because they play a simple zonal marking scheme. Burnley get a corner and set their attacking players in static positions in the box, allowing the Spurs defence to play man-to-man. No one is on the keeper, and the corner is an out-swinger. Incredible."
With the game still at 1-1 and knowing we have to score to survive, we make not a single substitution until 72 minutes. And the player coming on is fan-favourite Manuel Benson, a key part of the Championship winning side who Kompany deemed just not good enough for the Premier League and who did not appear in the squad for most of the season. Yet, a player who is now the man capable of saving our season with just 18 minutes of play left.
Our goalkeeper receives a final warning from the referee for time wasting at a goal kick when we have to win to survive. And we are not winning.
Kompany has got so entrenched in his perfect system that he has perhaps convinced himself that if he can just get the players to implement it then all will be fine. Maybe, if he had come up to reassess that view at some point earlier in the season, we would not be playing in the Championship next year.
I have so many questions I need answers to from this wholly disappointing campaign.
Natalie Bromley can be found at No Nay Never podcast, external