Vincent Kompany’s vision: FC Bayern wants to be a unit again

There he was, finally: the new Bayern coach. Vincent Kompany had taken a seat in the FC Bayern press room. Press spokesman Dieter Nickles sat down next to him, and on the other side the Belgian coach was flanked by CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and sports director Max Eberl. After months of unsuccessfully searching for a coach, Kompany completes the new Bayern management. The Belgian and his bosses have a big task ahead of them: they are to lead the club into a new era after the first titleless season in twelve years, ideally just as glorious and brilliant as in previous years.

There is great uncertainty about the future of the record champions. This was evident when the 38-year-old was introduced, although the main person was the least to blame for it. Kompany tried – switching back and forth between German and English – to downplay the fact that he was only the fifth or sixth choice with a joke right at the start: “I have spoken a lot with Max Eberl and Christoph Freund. The fact that I am here means that you are doing a good job,” said Kompany. The last sentence of the statement fit well with Eberl’s words on the last Bundesliga matchday: “The best comes last.”

Vincent Kompany had an answer to all questions

Now, sitting on the podium in person, Kompany explained his idea of ​​football: “As a coach, you have to train the way you played. I grew up on the streets of Brussels and learned the winning gene in Anderlecht,” he said. He wanted to play “courageously” with the ball and “aggressively” against it. He added that he wanted to “make every player better.” “Bayern is a great club, I want to take everyone with me on this path. I don’t just want to have the best players, I also want to have the best team.”

These were hardly surprising statements. He stressed that he had learned a lot from Pep Guardiola, under whom he played for a long time at Manchester City. He was pursuing a “clear idea” that he would also “implement in Germany”. When asked about players he would rely on, Kompany understandably evaded the question: “It’s too early to talk about players.”

Kompany had an answer to all questions. But the most important thing at this meeting was the protagonists’ efforts to present themselves as a unit. The damage caused by the tough and chaotic search for a coach in recent months has been repaired, was the message. Kompany took on his role when he said at the beginning: “I have now also spoken to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and “Üli” Hoeneß (Kompany’s French accent) and they are also behind me.”

It should be a new start for FC Bayern

The statement was significant because predecessor Thomas Tuchel ultimately did not have the support when it came to whether he should stay or not. The impression was created that Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund wanted to hold on to Tuchel, while Bayern patriarchs Hoeneß and Rummenigge gave the thumbs down. FC Bayern seemed torn apart and the new sporting director Eberl, who only took up his job in March, was already feeling ill. Eberl admitted that FC Bayern had been given “one or two black eyes”.

The introduction of the new coach was an attempt to initiate a fresh start after the chaos of the coach search: “We have a great chance to row back on a few things and become a unit again,” said Eberl. A “line must now be drawn under the past few months.” What sounded plausible and sensible to Eberl, however, became a laughing stock for CEO Dreesen.

As a reminder: Dreesen had announced that Ralf Rangnick’s signing was a certainty when the contract had not even been signed yet. Now he actually tried to sell the “diversity” of Bayern and its environment as “our strength”, which logically led to the signing of Kompany. Of course, the “competence of people like Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge” was also taken into account. That was a bit over the top.

It could be tough for some players

The new start could be tough for some players. There will be a noticeable restructuring of the squad, so Eberl can understand: “We are probably a bit further along than you think. We don’t have a cut list. Of course there are players who could have a harder time in the future, but that’s normal in competitive sport.”

At the end, the three posed for a group photo. Kompany, who is 1.93 meters tall, stood in the middle and hugged his superiors, who he clearly towers over. It seemed a little as if Kompany had to protect the two of them.

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