Bayern Munich is off to a flying start under new manager Vincent Kompany, having won all five of their competitive matches across all competitions thus far. Coming in to the job, there was always going to be added pressure for the Belgian after the Rekordmeister went without a piece of silverware under Thomas Tuchel last season for the first time in over a decade, though they were very close to making it to the Champions League final at Wembley.
With a fair amount of business done during the summer transfer window, Kompany has all of the right tools in place to get Bayern back on track this season, and he has already had to navigate through injuries to Hiroki Ito, Josip Stanišić, and most recently, Sacha Boey. Even with the injuries to key defensive players, Bayern has only conceded three goals throughout the entire season thus far, one of which was a penalty in the 3-2 win at VfL Wolfsburg. By stark contrast, on the other end of the pitch, they have been able to tally 15 goals from all of their matches thus far.
Board member for sport Max Eberl has recently doubled down on the stance that Kompany was never the front office and board’s sixth or seventh choice to replace Tuchel. There were certainly other names mentioned and other candidates both linked and approached with the job, but Eberl explained how he feels the former Burnley boss ticks all the right boxes.
“He’s good for FC Bayern. He knows exactly what he wants and doesn’t let himself be influenced by what’s happening on the outside, although it’s always hectic around FC Bayern. He’s also great from a human and empathetic point of view. Bayern have been somewhat static recently, so we wanted to change something and bring something new. Vincent showed with his playing style in Burnley that he can do that. This activity, this energy, defending high up, that’s what we saw in the first few weeks and should continue to manifest in the next months,” Eberl enthused on BR24 in the buildup to the Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb (via @iMiaSanMia).
The upcoming fixtures list to round out September and head into October both before and after the next international break will perhaps be the real litmus test for Kompany. Across all competitions, Bayern will essentially be playing a match every four to five days for a large stretch of time. A lot can happen with such a packed schedule.
