Bayern Munich officially unveil Vincent Kompany as head coach
Vincent Kompany gave his first press conference as Bayern Munich head coach, discussing his style of play and vision for the club in an impressive debut.
"I live my job very intensely," said the 38-year-old, who will give himself barely a week off before getting started. "I'll rest up a bit over the next few days and then I'll get to work. I'm going all-in, it can't start soon enough, I'm absolutely motivated."
He added: "I'm eternally motivated. I wake up and, from morning to evening, I have pure motivation, pure intention to make people around me better. It's in my nature to always work hard, keep going and take people with me on the journey. I don't want to be successful on my own, I want to be successful with as many people as I can."
Watch: Vincent Kompany's first Bayern Munich press conference
Kompany's character and style of football were a hot topic in the room and the Belgian tactician said that both go hand-in-hand with each other under his management.
"I want the players of Bayern Munich to be brave, to have personality on the ball," he explained. "But also my nature is to be aggressive and I want them to be progressive and represent those two things in my character."
The former Hamburg player wants to see that same passion passed onto his players when he meets the squad in the coming weeks.
"I want to find out how hungry the players are," he said. "Bayern didn't become champions last year, I'm familiar with that situation too. I'll look at which players are hungry enough to play for FC Bayern."
One of the players who will now be at Kompany's disposal at Bayern is Leroy Sané (l.), his former teammate at Manchester City. - Catherine Ivill
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Hunger clearly isn't something Kompany is short of himself, telling the packed media room: "I'm eternally motivated. I wake up and, from morning to evening, I have pure motivation, pure intention to make people around me better. Improve players, improve staff, improve everyone I meet.
"It's in my nature to always work hard, keep going and take people with me on the journey. I don't want to be successful on my own, I want to be successful with as many people as I can."
Moving into his first coaching job at the very top of the game, the highly-decorated former centre-back is aware of the demands of success that will be immediately placed on his shoulders at Bayern, but he appears to be excited by those expectations.
"I know what a big club Bayern is. I'm proud, but also very motivated to be here," said Kompany. "A top club is defined by the mentality with which you work there every day. To work as a coach, you have to work 24 hours a day."
Watch: Kompany on having "the best job in the world"
Meanwhile, after what Jan-Christian Dreesen said was a "long decision-making process", the Bayern CEO and board member for sport, Max Eberl, were delighted to have secured "the right man for the job."
"We were on the same page right away," said Eberl. "We think the same way about the style of play and we were really happy to find a solution. We're ready for a new energy and new style... we want to be dominant, we want to have the ball. He also stands for that."
Dreesen added: "We're very happy that Mr. Kompany is here today and first impressions yesterday were really positive. Christoph Freund and Max Eberl have worked intensively over the last weeks and months to find us one coach who can develop new ideas for Bayern and Vincent Kompany is that man."
Vincent Kompany (c.) was flanked by Jan-Christian Dreesen (l.) and Max Eberl (r.) at his official unveiling as Bayern boss. - IMAGO/Bernd Feil/M.i.S.
Kompany's official unveiling - as it happened!
Thanks for keeping us Kompany!
A fitting way to end the press conference - one filled with intensity as Kompany got across his desire to make a flying start at Bayern. An impressive player, an impressive coach and, clearly, an impressive man is heading into the Allianz Arena dugout. Anyone else want the season to start tomorrow?
It's being made clear today that Kompany is both itching to get going and also full of energy for the role. "I live my job very intensively," said Kompany who will give himself barely a week's rest before getting started. "I'll rest up a bit over the next few days and then I'll get to work. I'm going all-in, it can't start soon enough, I'm absolutely motivated."
Friends reunited...
Now Kompany is talking about his former teammate, Leroy Sané: "We had a really good time together in Manchester. I wasn't just captain at City, I was more than that. I will try to coax everything out of him and everything out of every player."
Noting that next season's Champions League final will take place at the Allianz Arena, Kompany notes it's on his wishlist to ensure Bayern compete in that showpiece on home soil. "Of course, the Champions League final is in Munich in 2025," says Kompany. "But we won't achieve that by talking about it, we'll have to work hard for it every day in training."
Kompany also on squad planning
"We'll discuss internally what the squad needs. We want to win every game, always. That must always be our priority."
Eberl: "Squad planning underway"
The board member for sport is getting plenty of air-time and he gives us a hint at Bayern's transfer window and squad planning. "We've already talked intensively about players and the squad," he explained. "Christoph and I have of course already worked on the squad planning. We're probably a bit further along than you might think."
Clearly, hunger won't be an issue for Kompany
"I'm eternally motivated. I wake up and, from morning to evening, I have pure motivation, pure intention to make people around me better. Improve players, improve staff, improve everyone I meet... It's in my nature to always work hard, keep going and take people with me on the journey. I don't want to be successful on my own, I want to be successful with as many people as I can."
Kompany is asked about which members of the squad he sees as being important and makes clear he wants to assess their desire first and foremost. "I want to find out how hungry the players are," he said. "Bayern didn't become champions last year, I'm familiar with that situation too. I'll look at which players are hungry enough to play for FC Bayern."
More from Eberl
"Vincent has everything except the experience of having worked at a top club so far. He has a great personality and his style of play suits FC Bayern perfectly: we want to be dominant, we want to have the ball. He also stands for that."
Kompany on the demands of the job
"A top club is defined by the mentality with which you work there every day... To work as a coach, you have to work 24 hours a day. Max and Christoph called and then we met. I concentrate 100 per cent on my job."
Dreesen: "Kompany the right man for the job"
"We had a long decision-making process," says the Bayern CEO. "But we all agreed that Vincent Kompany was the right man for the job." Eberl also touches on wanting more longevity in the role moving forward: "We've had a high turnover of coaches recently. We want to change that, the coach is a very important person at the club. We have a great opportunity to row back on a few things and become a unit again."
It's mentioned that Guardiola gave his endorsement for Kompany to take over, with the new Bayern boss explaining that despite the Spaniard's influence on him as a football, he isn't a copy and paste of the former FCB coach. "I wouldn't compare our styles," said Kompany. "Pep Guardiola was very important to my career and very supportive."
Eberl doubles down on Kompany's positive personality
"He has a really great personality and had an impact on us," says the FCB board member for sport. "We can only be successful and we stand together... Hopefully we will work together for a long time."
"It's Vincent or Vinny"
Kompany alludes to some miss-pronunciations of his first name while at Hamburg previously, before discussing his style of football. "As a coach, you have to coach how you are as a person," he explained. "I want the players of Bayern Munich to be brave, to have personality on the ball, but also my nature is to be aggressive and I want them to be progressive and represent those two things in my character."
Max Eberl follows on, saying: "We were on the same page right away. We think the same way about the style of play and we were really happy to find a solution... We're ready for a new energy and new style."
Dreesen: "First impressions really positive"
Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen is up next: "We're very happy that Mr. Kompany is here today and first impressions yesterday were really positive. Christoph Freund and Max Eberl have worked intensively over the last weeks and months to find us one coach who can develop new ideas for Bayern and Vincent Kompany is one for everything!"
Here we go...
Kompany is kicking things off by saying his first impressions of the club have been "very good". He's clearly itching to get going, saying: "I'm very motivated to start. The season could start today, right away!"
Watch: Kompany's unveiling LIVE!
A reminder that, as well as our blog updates, we have the press conference live both here and above. We'll be getting underway any minute now...
The task at hand
Kompany's in-tray at Bayern will be fairly loaded but you'd think his major first task would be wrestling the Bundesliga trophy back from Bayer Leverkusen. A UEFA Champions League semi-final certainly wasn't to be sniffed at this season but winning a first DFB Cup since 2020 would be welcome. Success is required immediately at a massive club such as Bayern so Kompany will need to hit the ground running, and from today.
Half hour to go!
This is your 30 minute warning before we're due to go live from Munich with Bayern's new head honcho. A note that, as well as following along with our live blog, you will be able to watch Kompany's press conference LIVE at the link above.
Kompany: 10 things
You may well know all about Pep Guardiola's influence on the Belgian but have you heard the one about his father fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo for Belgium as a dissident, having protested against the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko? You can find that fascinating story, and others, right here!
While we wait for Kompany to take the stage in just over an hour's time, why not take in some morning reading to get the juices flowing? In this piece, we look at Kompany's time as a player with Hamburg, where he made 51 appearances for the club before heading off to Manchester City.
Kompany has given us a tiny bit of insight already to what Bayern may look like under him, telling the club's website yesterday: "As a coach, you have to stand for who you are as a person: I love having the ball, being creative and we also have to be aggressive on the pitch and courageous. I’m now looking forward to the most basic things: working with the players, building a team. When the foundation is in place, success will follow.”
Welcome to Vincent Kompany Day!
With the ink barely dry on a three-year deal at the Allianz Arena, new Bayern boss Kompany will be wheeled out in front of the media today. We're told it will be an 11am kick-off, and you can follow the Belgian's first Bayern press conference live, right here, on bundesliga.com
A new leaf
Kompany comes in on the back of Bayern's first trophyless season since 2011/12. They finished third in the Bundesliga, went out of the DFB Cup in the second round to third-tier Saarbrücken and lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals. His predecessor, Tuchel, agreed by mutual consent back in February to stand down at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
'A great honour' - Kompany
"I'm looking forward to the challenge," Kompany said after signing a three-year deal on Wednesday. "It's a great honour to be able to work for this club - FC Bayern is an institution in world football."
It's official!
Bayern Munich have named Vincent Kompany as their replacement for Thomas Tuchel in the head coaching role. Follow his official unveiling and first press conference in the hot seat right here...
