Burnley boss Kompany: From Cruyff to Pep my career circle was complete

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany admits his coaching has the influence of Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola.

Kompany has just guided Burnley back to the Premier League at first attempt.

He told AS: I played my entire youth academy at Anderlecht. We play according to the Cruyjff philosophy. When we were children, we watched Johan Cruyff videotapes on the bus on the way to matches. That left a great impression on me.

"It was all about playing nice football, but as soon as I got to the Anderlecht first team, that disappeared. Before I dared to haggle and pass. I haven't been able to do that for thirteen years. In England they always taught me to hit people (laughs). I thought it was fantastic. I was in the gym a lot so I could fight with the Stoke defenders.

Then, at the age of 30, I met Pep Guardiola and everything changed. Suddenly the circle was complete. I lost five kilos and was able to play football like before. With Burnley we play a lot with possession of the ball, but that's not an end in itself for me. I want to have the ball a lot when I feel like we can do something with it. I know the Premier League will humiliate us in that sense, but we did that in the Championship and that's something I believe in."