Now that Vincent Kompany is officially in charge and working with the squad at Bayern Munich, we can take stock of some of the changes he’s made and what he brings to the table. Following his first public training session on Saturday, Tz did a breakdown (spread over two articles) that covers the work done so far.
Here’s what we know:
- Kompany is an active presence on the field, standing dead center and correcting his players in real time. If he sees something he doesn’t like, he immediately orders the player involved to the right position. His demeanor is compared to current Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola — a name that keeps popping up during reporting.
- Compared to Thomas Tuchel, Kompany is a lot more communicative in training. He takes more time to speak to players, regularly interrupting exercises to explain his ideas or correct mistakes.
- In addition, the coach wants his players — especially the senior members of the squad — to make themselves be seen and heard during sessions. During the Saturday session, Kompany was heard encouraging Eric Dier to direct his teammates during an exercise. One can only imagine what he’ll do once Thomas Müller rejoins the squad.
Vincent Kompany very involved in training, coaches in the middle of the pitch during all exercises, corrects the smallest details and positioning errors immediately and talks a lot with the players [@unverhofft]
pic.twitter.com/iyi6a9FymJ— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) July 20, 2024
- Music is played over a loudspeaker during warmup, in order to make the warmups feel less like a chore.
- In addition, the warmup itself has also changed. Team athletic trainer Bram Geers incorporates a game-style format into the warmup, so the team gets an additional exercise with the ball during each session.
- The coaching team has identified passing and buildup play as a key weakness in the squad following analysis of last season. In fact, this was pointed out on a podcast on this very site all the way back in May. Kompany is trying to instill better habits in the players regarding passing and buildup, to make sure that Bayern doesn’t crumble under pressure from an opponent, and finish sequences consistently even when they’re tired. Again, the Guardiola influence shines through here.
- Training sessions are watched closely by sporting director Christoph Freund, both from ground level and a second floor balcony at the Säbener Straße.
- At the end of the training session, the coach stayed behind for an hour to take photos and sign autographs for fans present. Kompany is clearly not taking his relationship with the fans for granted and seems to be trying to foster a solid connection from day one.
Takeaways
This seems like a solid start from Vincent Kompany, who faces an uphill task to convince Bayern Munich fans that he’s really cut out for the job. A focus on passing and buildup play was sorely needed, and there’s a good chance that the squad will respond positively to a meticulous and direct coaching style.
Still, training sessions are not games, and we’re in the honeymoon period of Kompany’s tenure right now. It’s only after we see how the team performs in-game that we’ll know how this squad is shaping up — and whether Vincent Kompany can really lead Bayern Munich to glory.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s roller coaster ride of a transfer window, plus some chatter on Harry Kane’s health and a listener Q&A? Good, then we have you covered with the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show, where we hit on all of that and more! You can get the podcast on Patreon, Spotify, or below: