Bundesliga
Coach with Pep DNA: Bayern’s bold plan with Kompany
Could become new Bayern coach: Vincent Kompany. Photo
© Richard Sellers/PA Wire/dpa
Will FC Bayern’s search for a coach end with a surprise? Vincent Kompany, a Guardiola student, is set to become Tuchel’s successor. It would be an exciting and also risky experiment.
The best comes last? The best solution at FC Bayern, announced by sports director Max Eberl after several failed attempts, could be in the former Bundesliga professional Vincent Kompany may surprisingly be a newcomer to the coaching ranks.
With the 38-year-old Belgian from Premier League relegated FC Burnley, the Munich bosses would be taking a very courageous but at the same time innovative path in their ejection seat, especially after the first titleless season since 2012. And that before a season, at the end of which the Champions League final takes place in the Allianz Arena at home.
The pressure and expectations for the successor to Thomas Tuchel, who was replaced after just 14 months, could hardly be greater – and of course also for Eberl and Co. According to reliable sources from England and Belgium, there is already a “verbal agreement” between Bayern and Kompany, the young, inexperienced coach with Pep Guardiola DNA. German media followed suit on Thursday with similar information, while the Munich decision-makers remained silent. At Säbener Strasse, it was only announced that the partnership with the “Paulaner Brewery” had been extended for the long term.
Eberl: “We will find a coach”
The toast to Kompany had to wait. After the cancellations of Leverkusen’s championship coach Xabi Alonso, national coach Julian Nagelsmann and the already believed certain Austrian national coach Ralf Rangnick, the multi-voiced Munich bosses are currently exercising more public restraint. Eberl is the mouthpiece, assisted by sports director Christoph Freund. But neither of them has ever commented on names. The fired duo also recently refused to name timetables, which start in April and then in May.
After the disappointing end to the season against Hoffenheim (2:4), Eberl admitted that he was “most disappointed” about the unsuccessful search for a coach. In addition to the snappy saying (“The best comes last”), the 50-year-old promised the impatiently waiting players and fans: “We will find a coach, I am 100 percent sure of that.”
Matthew: “If you are convinced of him…”
Is it Kompany now? “If you are convinced of him as a coach, then you should finally let him sign and take him,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus as a TV expert on RTL. Time is of the essence, says the former Bayern captain: “You have to present your coach as quickly as possible in order to move forward with the plans.”
The Belgian would no longer be considered a candidate or a first-class solution. However, the label of emergency solution could be irrelevant to the former international player and HSV professional (2006 to 2008), who experienced his most successful time as a professional from 2008 to 2019 at Manchester City with several championship titles. For Kompany, it would be a huge opportunity, and one that he should be confident of taking. He is considered an energetic, inspiring coach. And at 1.90 meters, he has a good stature.
Guardiola’s praise and prophecy
Kompany earned his first merits at the Belgian record champions RSC Anderlecht, where he even started as a player-coach in 2019. He returned to England for the 2022/23 season and took over Burnley FC as a relegated Premier League team. Promotion followed straight away, but in the past season there was also direct relegation with only 24 points.
But that was not blamed on Kompany. The squad was too weak. And he was not fired. In fact, Kompany is under contract until 2028. Bayern are said to be negotiating with club owner Alan Pace (56) about his release, for which a transfer fee of millions would be due, as was the case with Nagelsmann’s signing from RB Leipzig.
Kompany would be a big Bayern experiment, one with a Guardiola student. Dominant football with compact defense – that’s what Kompany wants. The Munich team has no longer been a bulwark, especially defensively. Kompany also speaks several languages, including German. The central defender acted as captain and an extended arm of the former Munich star coach at Man City under Guardiola.
“I like what he does,” said the Catalan favorably about Kompany’s work at Burnley. “I have the feeling that he will end up at Manchester. He is already a great manager,” Guardiola, known for his crushes, said earlier this year.
What do supervisory board members Hoeneß and Rummenigge think?
The next Kompany station could now be Munich. Eberl and friend finally have to report enforcement. Possible sales candidates, but also potential newcomers such as national player Chris Führich from VfB Stuttgart want to know who their boss will be.
The supervisory board around Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge must agree to a coaching commitment. What do you think? “I can’t imagine that all the bosses at Bayern Munich are convinced by Kompany,” said Matthäus skeptically. When he said goodbye, Tuchel called for more unity: “Then you do it together and have to go through thick and thin because there are always troughs.”