Vincent Kompany’s Burnley – it’s just like watching… Brazil?!

Burnley Football Club. 70% possession.

Yes, you read that right.

Last night was not a dream. There was no need to adjust televisions, reload streams or check how many pints you had consumed.

What you were seeing was real. It may have looked like Brazil, but you were actually watching Burnley.

How things have changed in such a short period. For so long, Burnley have carried unwanted stereotypes. The long-ball merchants who general football fans never wanted to watch.

That’s in the past judging by this 1-0 win away to Huddersfield Town in the first Championship game of the season.

The first half was a thing of beauty. Vincent Kompany’s suit jacket was off inside three minutes and as he kicked and headed every ball, his team responded.

It only took 15 minutes before the self-mocking “anti-football” chant made an appearance. That was during a spell of sustained Burnley possession at the John Smith’s Stadium when between the singing each completed pass was being greeted by “olé”.

This is not what Burnley fans are used to; they need to start to expect it.

There were 301 total passes completed in the first half alone. Burnley only completed more than 300 passes twice in the Premier League in an entire game last season.

Goalkeeper Aro Muric looked confident with the ball at his feet as Burnley looked to build from the back. Josh Cullen pulled the strings and stroked the ball around like it was his world and we were all just living in it. He created, he dictated and he looked head and shoulders above the rest. It is easy to see why Kompany loves him. He epitomises the system.

There were runners and support during every Burnley attack, breaking lines and bursting into the box when they had the chance; exactly how Ian Maatsen found himself in position to net the first goal of the Kompany era.

Clever movement coupled with intelligent passing into feet allowed players to link. So much so there was nearly an audible gasp when a Burnley player dared to actually attempt a long pass. Plan A under the previous regime is now at the bottom of the pile.

It was helped by the aggressive, front-foot pressing. Cullen pushed up to form a wall of himself, Josh Brownhill, Dara Costelloe and Samuel Bastien behind Ashley Barnes.

There was a league debut for Costelloe, an under-23 prospect who has earned an opportunity by backing up his second half of the season form with a strong pre-season. Operating in a wide forward role, Costelloe looked at home. There were moments where he lacked composure and showed his inexperience but his energy, running and all-round game justified his selection.

This was a Burnley side that contained six debutants, had players missing through injury and could only name an inexperienced bench with only five weeks of pre-season training under their belts. Dwight McNeil had signed for Everton just days before too. It should have been a struggle. Instead, it was effortless. It looked like they had been playing together for years.

Barnes was throwing in dummy stepovers. Maatsen kept bursting into space on the left. Brownhill and Bastien exploited the pockets of space between Huddersfield’s defence and midfield. Charlie Taylor took to his new position at centre-half like a duck to water despite never having featured in a competitive game for Burnley there.

This was one game, one half even, but it was fun. Perspective must be taken but thinking about what could be possible if and when they add more creativity and goalscoring, the priorities in the transfer window, in the next month.

It was not all fun and games either. The second half was a battle. It tested character. After being so dominant, the game became scrappy. Burnley struggled to maintain the same control. Matching grit, determination and hard work with free-flowing football is what Kompany demands.

We saw the moments of old game management tactics. Taylor was booked for time-wasting. Cullen was shown yellow for a cynical challenge on Tino Anjorin as Huddersfield threatened to break. Barnes had his elbows out and goalscorer Maatsen shielded the ball by the corner flag as Burnley looked to run down the clock in added time.

Fittingly, when Kompany turned to his bench for the second time to replace the tiring Costelloe, it was a Brazilian who entered. Vitinho, fresh from becoming Burnley’s ninth signing of the summer. Not quite Brazil but the first Brazilian to represent the club.

There is triumph in grinding out victories in backs-against-the-wall situations but this dominant win was achieved by offering a glimpse of the exciting football Kompany wants. The aim is goals, and if this side continues to gel and develop there should be plenty more.

Burnley finished the game with 598 passes attempted and 507 completed, at 85% accuracy. It is a significant increase from the 324 attempted and 224 passes completed on average per game last season, with a passing accuracy of 69%.

Yet this should not discredit the work of Sean Dyche. Why Burnley were so successful in the top flight for so long was because they did not try to take on more skillful opposition toe-to-toe, they found effective ways to win, playing to their strengths. It may not have been popular or pretty but it worked.

Had Burnley turned up on the opening day of the Premier League next weekend and done this under Kompany then it may be viewed differently. The Championship is a significant step down from the Premier League. These are different circumstances. Burnley are now the team to beat, rather than the ones desperately trying to avoid being beaten.

Kompany’s roar that greeted the full-time whistle was one of raw emotion and passion. An opening weekend victory takes some of the pressure off and, as he smiled and joked during his post-match media duties, he and Burnley supporters glimpsed what potentially is to come.

Welcome to the new era, the one everyone is going to want to watch.

(Photo: Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images)