Vincent Kompany on Harry Kane, stepping up at Bayern Munich, and taking down Bayer Leverkusen
A player at Hamburg before his legendary trophy-laden Manchester City career, Vincent Kompany is back in Germany and ready to take Bayern Munich back to the top. bundesliga.com sat down with the iconic defender after a busy summer in the dugout and the transfer market.
bundesliga.com: It's quite a big step coming from Burnley to Bayern Munich. How was that? Was there something you were surprised about? Was it bigger than you thought?
Kompany: “I’ve made big steps all my life. If you draw the comparison with where I have coached then maybe, but if you draw the comparison with where I have lived most of my career in football, then it’s not something I don’t know. The feeling is actually very familiar. At these very big clubs, you can make it about everything around you if you want to look at it that way, but based on my learnings in the past and how you have to approach it, it’s ultimately just 11 players playing against another team with a ball and a set of rules. You have to focus on the things you can control and everything else outside is bigger, but it doesn’t mean you have the capacity to process all of it. You have to just keep doing what you are good at because that’s the reason why you are here.”
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bundesliga.com: When you say it like this, it sounds so easy, but the whole topic is so much more complex, of course. You also have to navigate the whole thing now. So how would you describe yourself as a coach?
Kompany: “The only clarity I can give is that I think you have to coach who you are as a person. That is the biggest thing. I have learned so much from so many brilliant coaches over the years and I have taken some aspects of that because that is how you evolve but, in the end, I could not coach something that I am not as a person. My nature is to be creative and brave. I have explained a few times that I come from the streets of Brussels. I have this element that I like to see beautiful football and beautiful players that have the ambition to do something different with the ball than other players. But, at the same time, I was a fairly aggressive player in my career, so I like the game to be physical as well and I like the team to work hard. I like to make it uncomfortable for the opponent and that’s what I always want to achieve because that’s my character.”
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bundesliga.com: You mentioned Pep Guardiola as one of your biggest influences. He wore the badge as well. Did you talk to him before joining Bayern?
Kompany: “Not before. It was important for me to have a neutral decision. Afterwards it was good to speak to people, not just Pep but others as well because you want to understand the players and the people. It’s no different to when you go and visit Munich or Bavaria in general and you want to try to collect as much information as you can so that when you come in, you can fit in somehow. You want to almost immediately inspire and convince them.”
bundesliga.com: We saw pictures where you used drones during training. We also read some articles about loud music during the warm-up. Are you somebody that is open to modern ideas and development as well?
Kompany: “I’m a thinker first of all. I am not someone who just goes into something emotionally. I think about things and if it’s rational and I can see a reason, then I go with it. I am self-confident enough to do the right thing, even if not necessarily everybody perceives it as such. I am confident of that. But the drones are really not something new, that is not a revolution because they have existed for a long time. It gives you a different angle when you are watching the images back. The music is funny to me because it’s sunny here and the preparation they are doing outside on the pitch is normally something they would do 80 percent of the time as pre-activation in the gym because of the bad weather in winter. They would always have the music on the gym, so the rational side of me says that we are still in the pre-activation mode and so you have to put yourself in the same conditions. It sounds like a revolution, but it absolutely makes sense.”
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bundesliga.com: Did you analyse last season or do you see this as a fresh start now?
Kompany: “When I said that part of me was trying to have a neutral opinion on this, it was definitely about being able to do my work and analysing what I thought could hopefully go better this season and what maybe went wrong last season. What is exciting is that you do normally get a reaction when you have big players who have been hurt. Everybody else is laughing and having a bit of fun at the expense of those players who were very successful for many years. I would expect a reaction and that’s an exciting time to be joining the club.”
bundesliga.com: There has been lots of criticism, especially towards the more experienced players in the squad last season, but they're so important to the club and for the DNA as well. Which role are they going to play?
Kompany: “You can’t change the fact that there is criticism. It’s almost predictable when you’re at one of the biggest clubs in the world and you don’t win. Criticism is to be expected. Just like when you win, people are going to say you’re the best in the world. Those extremes are always there when you play for a club like this. I fully expect them to be fully able to deal with this. But again, I would expect that it would motivate these players that you’ve mentioned even more. I’ve been in that position myself before as a player. There’s no better fuel than that. That energy and that experience is what I’m looking for.”
bundesliga.com: Talking about criticism or headlines - last season there was a new headline about Bayern every single day. Are you prepared for that? Or don't you care?
Kompany: “You made the reference at the very beginning about the step from where I was last year to here. I have lived in this environment so I understand, and every headline in the end in reality is quite predictable. When you're at your weakest and you're vulnerable for a period of time, it's coming and you have to be together. You have to focus on the one thing you can affect, which is winning the next game. Eventually, with talent and with hard work, you get out of that cycle. You can get caught up in this idea of being the most important person in the world, which is never the case. Just be a footballer and work on the things you need to improve on as a team and individually, and then have absolute belief that you can have success again. We can't forget that the other team got 90 points last year, but you can't have any regrets about your own behaviour and then a club like our club will have success.”
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bundesliga.com: Let’s talk about the Bundesliga. Bayer Leverkusen were unbeaten last season, but it might be difficult to repeat that. What do you think about them? What do you think about Borussia Dortmund? RB Leipzig? In general, what kind of battle do you expect?
Kompany: “In terms of what Leverkusen achieved last year, I can relate to what they've experienced with some of the successes I would have had as well as a player and as a coach in the season we had in the Championship. What I'm trying to say with this is that I think it would be completely naive for us to assume that they cannot repeat it. I think we have to prepare ourselves for another 90-plus point season from the competition. So, that means that there are 20 points somewhere that we have to find next season to be champions. I think it would also be a little bit disrespectful for us to assume that they're not going to do it again. I think our benchmark has to be that we have to be above that.”
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bundesliga.com: Joao Palhinha is finally here. What are the qualities he can bring to the team?
Kompany: “I can just name it easily because it's very obvious to see his biggest quality – it’s defensively how he reads the game and the amount of balls he can recover. He's a player who has the qualities on the ball to be a Bayern Munich player. Like I said, it's normal to talk about one individual because it's a new player that we're now integrating into the team, but my biggest wish is for him to be a part of the team, and for him to play a role to make the team stronger and that we put the team first. I think he can be a player that helps us achieve that ideal.”
Watch: João Palhinha: "I'm very proud"
bundesliga.com: Harry Kane hasn't been with the team yet. Did you have any talks with him? It was such a painful loss for him in the final because he wanted to win his first big title.
Kompany: “No, but he's been a captain and a leader for club and country for so many years. My wife is English, so of course I wished him well. My kids are English as well in the way they respond at the moment so, of course, I wished him well as the captain of England. But then after a defeat, I think he's a leader himself, so he's probably been the guy that has been helping all the people around him to get over this. I have no doubt that that will give him extra motivation as well.”
bundesliga.com: If we talk again after the season, what characteristics do you hope that people would connect with Bayern?
Kompany: “I think I've mentioned it before, the word 'team'. It's not about what I experienced as a player because I'm not a player anymore, but I have lived it as well. If you can be at a big club with top players and somehow you get to put the team first, you can achieve wonderful things. I really believe in that and I'm committed to that. So, if you ask me what I would like to see at the end of the season, it's that we're actually talking about a great team. That would be wonderful for me.”
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