As a former coach of Bayern Munich, Louis van Gaal knows what it’s like to work with the people in charge of the club. He never quite saw eye to eye with Uli Hoeneß or Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, but he probably has some idea of how they think. So, when Bayern Munich got rejected by a litany of coaches only to end up with Vincent Kompany at the end, the Dutchman thinks it probably wasn’t easy for them.
Reading between the lines, he doesn’t exactly seem impressed by the Kompany hire:
Louis van Gaal on Vincent Kompany to Bayern: “I was really surprised, because a lot of names were in the media – and these names were very highly respected. Kompany is a new coach with not so much experience. But they [Bayern] asked many coaches to come but they didn’t come. I… pic.twitter.com/6LIxDnzkU1
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) June 9, 2024
Louis van Gaal on Vincent Kompany to Bayern: “I was really surprised, because a lot of names were in the media — and these names were very highly respected. Kompany is a new coach with not so much experience. But they [Bayern] asked many coaches to come but they didn’t come. I think that’s not so nice for Bayern München.”
Just to recap, these are the coaches Bayern Munich either approached directly or were linked with before Kompany was made permanent:
- Xabi Alonso, who elected to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.
- Julian Nagelsmann, who chose to extend with the German national team instead.
- Ralf Rangnick, who entered talks but ultimately opted to stay with Austria.
- Hansi Flick, whom Bayern considered and rejected, leading to him signing for FC Barcelona.
- Julen Lopetegui, who preferred a move to West Ham.
- Oliver Glasner, who was interested in the job but blocked by Crystal Palace.
- A last-ditch attempt to extend Thomas Tuchel, which fell through.
- Sporadic links to Roberto De Zerbi, Zinedine Zidane, and Sebastian Hoeneß.
In the end, Kompany was the man chosen. Many in the fanbase have doubts about the former Manchester City defender due to his lack of experience at this level, but it’s not like experience helped Thomas Tuchel enjoy a successful stint at Bayern Munich. Right now, the club probably hopes that Vincent Kompany will hit the ground running next season, putting all talk of this summer’s coaching clown show out of people’s memories.
Looking for some thoughts on Germany’s group stage performance, Bayern Munich’s wild start to the transfer season, and why the New World Order in the front office might not have a long-term plan at this stage? Good, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show! You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: