Burnley finally look like a Premier League team

The ending may not have felt good. The Lyle Foster red card, the Sander Berge handball and the fact VARs are back in Burnley supporters’ lives.

But, if you step back and take a breath, the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest was the night Vincent Kompany’s team looked like a Premier League outfit.

Against Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham, barring brief spells, they had shown naivety and been second best in too many phases. Making the jump from the Championship to the Premier League felt as tough as it has ever been.

Monday night was different. This was a game they could have won — and maybe should have before the VAR intervened and ruled out Foster’s goal on 75 minutes for the ball brushing Berge’s arm.

It helped provide answers to the question that had begun to loom large over the international break — can Burnley compete at this level?

Based on this evidence, the answer is ‘yes’, or it certainly was for Kompany, who suggested it showed his team are on the same level as “a range of teams”.

The detailed meetings and relentless work on the training ground appear to be paying off. Burnley were one unit, a cohesive team carrying out a game plan and not fading.

The biggest improvement came in defence. From front to back, Burnley looked tough to break down. and didn’t leave any unit exposed. It took a sublime goal from Callum Hudson-Odoi to break through, but James Trafford had little else of difficulty to deal with.

They were disciplined, alert and defended the box well. They withstood waves of pressure and didn’t leave themselves exposed or allow opponents too much space in and around the box. They pressed from the front together and when they lost possession, their transition into defensive positions — while not perfect — was an improvement from the first four matches.

After missing the first three Premier League matchday squads, Kompany recalled Charlie Taylor and he was one of Burnley’s standout players. The defender with the most top-flight experience at the club was an assured, tough-tackling presence in a back four that — despite having only played together once in the Championship (against Reading in a 0-0 draw in April) — clearly looked to have benefited from spending time together on the training pitch.

Burnley spent all summer searching for a new left-back, but Taylor remained despite interest from elsewhere. Kompany hinted that search will resume in January, but the 30-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract, may have started a rethink.

Taylor helped Burnley look more balanced and it was a similar story in midfield, with Josh Brownhill resuming his partnership with Josh Cullen in central midfield and Johann Berg Gudmundsson offering support.

Kompany had been happy with his team’s creativity so far, but this was at a more sustained level. Luca Koleosho continues to be fearless. Foster’s hold-up play was sublime.

Zeki Amdouni netted his first league goal. The Switzerland international had shown flashes of his talent but this was more sustained. He is being encouraged to be clever with his positioning and he worked out on the pitch how to become more involved. He began to dictate the attack, picking up pockets of space on the right and progressing the ball swiftly and decisively.

This was not just about moments and individualism. There were connections and movement. Burnley were smart in how they built up from the back, with Jordan Beyer and Ameen Al-Dakhil starting moves that drew out Forest’s defence and exploited the resulting space.

Burnley’s improvement was typified by the goal that came at the end of their best period. With the ball at the back, they remained calm despite Forest’s pressing and progressed the ball up the pitch first through Taylor and then Brownhill. Koleosho’s cutback flicked off Foster and Amdouni did the rest. A team goal, much like their one against Tottenham.

It felt like Kompany’s Burnley had arrived in the Premier League.

The depth of the attacking talent offers further encouragement. Kompany could make changes that did not weaken his side but strengthened it. Summer signings Mike Tresor and Berge made positive impacts. We did not even see Aaron Ramsey or Manuel Benson from the bench, or Wilson Odobert, who did not make the squad.

It was not flawless. There were concessions of possession in poor areas and moments where Burnley were nearly opened up. Naivety was still on show, epitomised by Foster’s sending-off. His off-the-ball elbow on Ryan Yates means the South African will miss the next three matches. Anass Zaroury’s late red card against Manchester City was similar – a needless incident that must be learnt from.

GO DEEPER

Burnley made 15 signings at a cost of over £90m – but did Kompany get what he needed?

There are similarities to the Forest side that came up last season, a team that lost loanees and needed to bring in a lot of players. They won only one of their first 11 games but Steve Cooper worked out a system and his players gelled. It’s not an exact blueprint but shows it can be done.

Individual and collective development has been the key focus all summer and Kompany remains adamant his team has plenty of room to grow.

A point here does not solve all of Burnley’s problems. It may only put them on the same level as “six or seven clubs” as Kompany suggested post-match, but it is a good place to start building.

(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)