Vincent Kompany says the adversities he suffered early in his career are helping him keep Burnley calm on their Premier League return.
The Clarets have just one point from their five games so far and travel to Newcastle on Saturday.
In an emotional interview before the match, Kompany told the media about his mother passing away and his sister having cancer while he was at Hamburg.
The Belgian called his first season in Germany “by far my toughest spell”.
He started his professional career at Anderlecht, breaking through in 2003 aged just 17 and winning the top flight’s annual Belgian Golden Shoe award.
His performances began to attract some of the biggest clubs in Europe, but he ended up joining Bundesliga side Hamburg for a then club-record fee of about £7m in 2006.
Kompany explained: “I was the biggest signing in the history of the club, but when I got there I got injured straight away, tore my Achilles tendon and was out for nine months.
“My mother passed away in that time and I was out of the house for the first time. My sister got cancer and the club was fighting against relegation having come from the Champions League.
“I spent Christmas at the club, working hard on my own because what was the point in going home? But you get out of it eventually.
“That is my story and those are the moments where I know what I did, and my journey was much more complicated than the trophies you see me lifting at the end.”
‘Stay humble on your way up’
In Kompany’s first season as manager, Burnley cantered to the Championship title with 101 points to secure an immediate return to the top flight.
But it has been a struggle this term, losing four of their five league games although they have reached the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.
“I feel I am in quite a position where I am good for this,” said Kompany.
“I am good to be the guy when you have success and keep saying it is not enough, but I am also good in moments where it is up against you and you keep believing, you keep going. That is in my nature.
“It [Hamburg] was by far my toughest spell but you learn a lot. You go from being this super talent with bad habits when you think you are better than you really are – you get away with stuff because they see the value in you, and then after that year I had at Hamburg, you learn pure humbleness.
“You learn that when you are on the way up, stay humble because when you are on the way down you will pay for it.”
Kompany moved from Hamburg to Manchester City in 2008 where he enjoyed tremendous success, winning 12 trophies including four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups.
But his career may have panned out very differently.
Kompany said: “At 14, they told me I would be done at 24. I did my back in at 19, then my Achilles, so there were stories about how I was never going to be fit.
“That helps in these moments, and that is why we got 101 points last season.
“We didn’t rest, we carried on. It is a cycle for me of three, four, five years and within this I see a very exciting team. I am in a good environment.”
Kompany calls for 60-65 game cap on players
According to PremierInjuries.com, the 20 Premier League sides currently have a combined 107 players out injured.
Of those, Manchester United and Chelsea are the worst affected, both with nine players currently unavailable because of an injury issue, while Burnley have five sidelined.
“There is part of the league that has an enormous amount of international players playing all over the world that get little rest,” said Kompany.
“For the players at the top who are having to play for their national team and all these other competitions, I think it should be capped appearances for a player within a season.
“So you put a number in it, say 60-65 games, something that they have to work hard for, but it puts the pressure a little bit more on coaches and national teams to come to a common sense kind of calendar.
“When you have time off, you have time off, and squads are getting bigger so players will get more game time and everyone is happy.
“You are not going to keep a player away from finals and important games, but if you decide that physiologically 65 or 70 games is beyond healthy, then that should be the cap. After that you start juggling around like you do when you have an injured player.”
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