The Week That Was: Vincent Kompany Era truly begins at Bayern Munich; Frauen grab first silverware of the season; and Paul Wanner might be a legit baller

May I have everybody’s attention? The Bundesliga is back!

While the season technically kicked off for Bayern Munich with last week’s DFB-Pokal matchups, everyone knows that the season officially kicks off once the Bundesliga is underway. Let’s get to it!

A debut win is a debut win

Obviously, Sunday’s match against Wolfsburg wasn’t a perfect encounter. After a very strong first half, Bayern collapsed at the beginning of the second, falling behind 1-2. The team came back, earning a hard-fought 3-2 victory. The Vincent Kompany Era at Bayern is OFFICIALLY official now that a Bundesliga game has been played.

I understand the frustration and, quite frankly, the fear that a lot of Bayern fans have after that first 90 minutes. It wasn’t reassuring. The defense was shaky. Everybody saw it, and if we’re honest with ourselves, everybody kind of expected it.

I’m a glass half-full kind of guy, so let’s talk about the bright spots that we did see from that defense.

Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae showed that they have the technical ability and the positional skills to excel in Kompany’s team. Then, they also showed that they’re still prone to big, boneheaded plays that can cost the team dearly. They’ve never reminded me of the 2012/13 versions of Jérôme Boateng and Dante more than they do now.

Sacha Boey reminded me a lot of a younger, probably less talented Alphonso Davies (they’re the exact same age, so this isn’t great.) While he’s “the guy” at right-back with Josip Stanišić injured, it’s easy to see what his future holds. Boey is going to get up into the attack and be brilliant while also committing some ridiculous defensive blunders. This may get wild at times this season.

Davies, for my money, remains the best left-back in the world by leaps and bounds on his best days. When he’s not hitting that mark, he feels every bit like the up-and-down 23-year-old that he is. He’s in a “contract year”, so he needs to show out while staying injury free. It’s a huge gamble by him, so let’s see if he can live up to this moment.

I think Bayern need a third, starting-quality center-back. I’m not convinced they’ll buy one.

But, and I want everyone to try and remember this: it’s ok. This is week one of thirty-four beautiful weeks in the Bundesliga. This team has work to do, and they have the time to do it. Let’s go!

Frauen get first big win of the season in Supercup

Everybody knows that the goal for the Bayern Frauen this season is to compete for and win the UEFA Women’s Champions League. On Sunday, they took home their first trophy of the season with a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in the DFL Supercup.

I don’t know if it can be understated just how big losing Lena Oberdorf to the ACL tear this summer with Germany was. The club was banking to be another game changer in their bid for European glory. There’s a good chance that she makes it back at some point late in the second half of the season. Will it be enough?

Photo by Matthias Kern/Getty Images

The club will be hoping that Sunday’s DFL Supercup win over Wolfsburg is just the start due the current campaign.

Paul Wanner might be legit

There’s been so much talk over the last couple of years of not-if-but-when Bayern would make a huge money offer for Florian Wirtz as the long-term Thomas Müller replacement. I’m here to posit… What if they didn’t?

In the fall of 2024, Paul Wanner is getting his first division legs underneath him for the first time. After spending last season on loan with Elversburg in the 2.Bundesliga, Wanner is now loaned to Bundesliga side Heidenheim.

Photo by Gregor Fischer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Wanner scored a goal against St. Pauli at the weekend, but almost more impressively, he won 8 of 11 duels from the attacking midfield. After a goal in the first round of the DFB Pokal as well, it’s safe to say Wanner is “heating up.”

Now sure, FC 08 Villingen is a Regionalliga side and St. Pauli were one of the teams promoted into the Bundesliga this summer. That doesn’t take away from Wanner still needing to go out there and perform. His next test comes this Thursday against Swedish club BK Häcken in their UEFA Conference League Qualifier.

Wirtz will cost anywhere from €100-€150 million. Wanner is free. Do Bayern roll the dice?

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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