Burnley FC icon will go down in Clarets folklore despite diving fan opinion | OneFootball

The Clarets support will do well to forget the Vincent Kompany signing 😅

Burnley's newfound style of play after sacking Sean Dyche took the Championship by storm under Vincent Kompany, turning from pragmatic Premier League perennials to slick Championship winners in the space of a few months - and with that, came a change in style of play that bred a whole new tactical role from a club icon.

Used to seeing the likes of Ben Mee, Nick Pope and Chris Wood at Turf Moor, a first Championship campaign in seven seasons brought about a different Burnley to one that we'd ever seen before. The old guard were swiftly replaced once Kompany arrived at the helm, and as a disciple of the Pep Guardiola-style football that we'd seen for a number of years in the Premier League, he was insistent that his Burnley side play the 'proper way' - even if there were hiccups in the early days.

Long balls from the back, crosses from deep and a low defensive block became alienated in east Lancashire, in favour of passing triangles, underlapping full-backs and tiki-taka around the edge of the box, which was mesmerising to watch as the club hit 101 points and cruised to promotion over Sheffield United with seven games to go. But one change in style that was notable was the goalkeeping position - and that massively divided opinion over Arijanet Muric.

Arijanet Muric certainly divided opinion at Burnley FC

The Kosovan came through City's academy, and despite a tepid loan spell at Nottingham Forest when he was just 21 years of age, it led the Swiss-born star to loans in Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, before Burnley landed him for £4million in July 2022.

A real asset with his feet, it was a huge mix-up from what Burnley had seen with Pope just months earlier. The lumbering England international was, and still is, one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League, though his distribution could have left a lot to be desired - and on the flip side, you had Muric, an excellent ball-playing goalkeeper who perhaps wasn't half as good as Pope at keeping the ball out of the net.

That came to be known in the opening weeks of the season. Burnley's win at Huddersfield on the opening day of the campaign in 2022/23 saw them record 70 percent possession, with fans left wowed at half-time against the Terriers at how quickly Kompany had implemented his tactics - but there were still teething problems to be had.

Early games such as a 3-3 draw with Blackpool, where Muric's attempts to play out of the back with Josh Cullen, were punished after he gave Theo Corbeanu with a gifted chance to score, whilst a daft rush of blood to the head gave Wigan Athletic a penalty just a week later. Games later in the campaign saw him struggle against Sheffield United in a 5-2 hammering, and mistakes against Watford certainly had fans wary.

There is no doubt that Muric will go down as a Burnley icon

But it was Muric's blasé approach, where he could pick strikers out with ease like a young Ederson and set goals up from nowhere, that saw him become one of Burnley's best assets. There was a reason the club dominated possession, with his outside of the boot passes and comfortability under pressure, that saw him become a club icon.

Of course, Muric isn't at the club anymore. He was interestingly replaced by James Trafford between the sticks at the start of last season, and although he came into the side to try and spark life into the Clarets' survival push, an outstanding performance upon his return in a 2-2 draw at Chelsea was quickly overturned by a horrific duo of mistakes against Everton and Brighton respectively, consigning the Clarets to relegation.

With Trafford having excelled in the Championship this season, and Muric once again struggling at Ipswich Town with another relegation imminent, Scott Parker appears to have made the right decision in selling Muric.

But despite dividing opinion as a maverick stopper, there's no doubting that Muric's style of play and changing of the old guard have made him a Burnley icon, and he'll be talked about in the mill town for years to come.