Bayern Munich might have won its opening match of the new Bundesliga campaign, but it wasn’t without a twinge of uncertainty.
The problem area for the team from Munich was the defense, with the center-back pairing of Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae misplacing countless passes. Of the two, the South Korean was the biggest offender, having held onto possession of the ball for too long in one instance during the second half, which allowed Patrick Wimmer to nick it off him before assisting Lovro Majer’s second goal of the match.
Had head coach Vincent Kompany wanted to, he could’ve justifiably zeroed in on Kim’s mistake but was instead captured by Sky reporter Kerry Hau (via @iMiaSanMia) saying, “The mentality of my team was great. I don’t want to talk about Min-jae’s mistake, I want to talk about the reaction. And it was good, from everyone.”
The decision from Kompany not to lambast his player is a good one. There’s no sense in focusing on negatives when it can only serve to hurt a situation. Kim knows he made a mistake, and Kompany being overly critical of him won’t do anything to prevent further mistakes. In highlighting the positive reaction from the team, Kompany is building an atmosphere where players can feel comfortable and are given the space to grow.
Looking for more analysis of Kompany’s Bundesliga debut? We’ve got you covered — INNN and Samrin go in-depth with a discussion of the lineups, tactics, substitutions, individual performances. PLUS we also compare and contrast Vincent Kompany’s start at Bayern Munich to what Hansi Flick has done at FC Barcelona thus far. Listen to it below or on Patreon or Spotify.
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