Man City vs Burnley: Why Vincent Kompany, Mikel Arteta and Xavi hint at clear Pep Guardiola legacy

Not many managers lead their team at an opposition ground and find a statue of themselves standing outside.

Vincent Kompany will be in this unusual predicament when he takes Burnley to Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Saturday.

"He was an incredible figure here. He is one of the biggest legends I have had," Pep Guardiola said at his pre-match news conference, speaking from a chair that he expects former captain Kompany to fill one day.

“The way [Burnley] play is exceptional. After seeing his team, I'm more than convinced he's going to come back [to Man City],” Guardiola continued. "When? I don't know, but it's going to happen.”

Guardiola is not shy when it comes to romantic notions in football and being succeeded by Kompany, who joined City shortly before their horizon-obliterating Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 and became the defining on-field leader of a golden generation, would certainly tick such boxes.

MORE: Vincent Kompany's Manchester City return: Burnley manager's record as a coach

But his observation that “the way they play is exceptional” is far more significant. If Guardiola did not feel Kompany was cut from the same cloth, able to develop what he has built in Manchester, then it is unlikely he would be touting him in such terms.

The former Barcelona boss might not have a physical monument to compare to Kompany's, but his presence in terms of influence across several European leagues is obvious.

Burnley are 13 points clear at the top of the Championship and storming towards an instant return to the Premier League, with Kompany having transformed the long-established style of play that brought success for his predecessor Sean Dyche.

City are not enjoying things to that extent in the Premier League this season because Arsenal — led by Guardiola’s former assistant Mikel Arteta — can go eight points in front while Man City are busy in the FA Cup.

Arsenal in the Premier League 2022/23

“Like any good coaching staff is supposed to work he was definitely an extension of Pep, probably the one in the coaching staff that was closer to the players, and understanding fully what Pep wanted as a manager,” Kompany said last month when speaking about playing under Guardiola and Arteta.

Over in Spain, Barcelona — “the club of my heart” as Guardiola has said on several occasions — are nine points to the good at the top of LaLiga under another Pep disciple, Xavi. Victory over Real Madrid in the final LaLiga El Clasico of the season would effectively end the title argument.

Guardiola and ex-Barca and Spain boss Luis Enrique are at the forefront of several former Barcelona players inspired by Johan Cruyff’s footballing vision. The City manager frequently acknowledges his debt to Cruyff, but the success of Arteta, Kompany, and Xavi suggests he is starting to build a similar legacy.

Maybe the table-topping exploits of Barcelona, Burnley and Arsenal are just a coincidence? Perhaps, but it’s not hard to spot commonalities when digging a little deeper.

What are Pep Guardiola’s tactics?

Guardiola is an advocate of Juego de Posicion or positional play, a methodology espoused by Marcelo Bielsa and Juanma Lillo, the Catalan's other great mentors behind Cruyff.

A team playing positionally is structured in a manner to give it numerical superiority in all aspects of play, to the greatest extent possible. With Guardiola teams, there are a couple of main tells for this.

The first is trying to overwhelm opponents by gaining a suffocating control of midfield. Over the past two seasons, City played a lot of games with a false nine as their central attacker, meaning that player frequently bolstered the midfield numbers. Since Erling Haaland’s arrival, there has been a greater onus upon Guardiola’s signature tactical trick of inverted fullbacks coming into the middle of the park.

Manchester City in the Premier League 2022/23

This is a gambit Arteta has also used to fine effect at Arsenal with Oleksandr Zincehnko, who learned the role to perfection over the course of five seasons under Guardiola at City. Kompany has used a rotating cast of full-backs ducking inside, with Connor Roberts most frequently tackling a responsibility that has also been handed to Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen and Vitinho, who joined on a temporary deal from Cercle Brugge.

Sergi Roberto is an old hand with such tasks at Barcelona as a natural midfielder who converted to right-back early in his career. Xavi finds balance by stationing his wingers high and wide, stretching the pitch and creating space for those playmaking inside to do damage.

This is another signature Guardiola ploy and has sometimes led to players like Jack Grealish receiving criticism for a perceived lack of involvement, while doing a team job. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have thrived by carrying out Arteta’s instructions out wide to the letter.

Getty Images

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Do Burnley play like Man City, Arsenal and Barcelona?

Burnley, Arsenal and Barcelona easily pass the eye-test of being Guardiola-influenced teams and the numbers show that these methods bring comparable levels of domination.

Arsenal have had the most touches in the opposition box and the most overall shots in the Premier League this season. City are second on both of those marks, while leading the way on goals scored and average possession per game — metrics on which Arsenal are up next.

Burnley and Barcelona score similarly highly in those areas and their respective 64.3% and 64.1% possession readings, each league highs, are almost identical to City’s 64.6%. Naturally, the team with the second-most possession in the Premier League is Arsenal.

Burnley in the Championship 2022/23

This focus on dominating play means none of the sides rank particularly highly in terms of blocks and tackles. Winning the ball back quickly is imperative in this style, but control of position and possession means such interventions do not come in great volume.

Guardiola famously asked “what is tackles?” during his mixed first season in England. Four title wins later and his City team have once again made fewer than any other team in the league.

Barcelona have conceded a mere eight goals in LaLiga this term and racked up 19 clean sheets, both easily league highs. However, no regularly starting goalkeeper has made fewer saves than Barca's Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Barcelona in LaLiga 2022/23

Indeed, the biggest threat to these teams, at times, can be their own ambition in terms of playing out from the back under pressure.

No Premier League team has made more errors leading to shots than Arsenal’s 17 this season, with Burnley and Barca ranked second and third in their divisions respectively on the same measure.

Guardiola doubling down on a focus upon control has arguably made City a more cautious side and they have only made five errors leading to shots this season. Another outlier is their 158 successful crosses — the most in the Premier League in 2022/23 and a product of both Haaland’s signing and Guardiola’s plan B of seeking second balls against packed defences.

Nowadays, Burnley don’t sling the ball into the box nearly as often as Manchester City do, would you believe. Strange as that might sound, it is the overwhelming similarities on display at the Etihad Stadium this weekend that will feel more significant, as one of the standout pupils of the Guardiola school approaches graduation.