Bayern Munich: Kompany style divides internally

This summer, Bayern Munich surprised everyone by appointing Vincent Kompany. After having struggled for a long time to choose its new coach tempting Zinédine Zidane, Roberto De Zerbi or even offering Thomas Tuchel to stay, the Bavarian team finally set its sights on the young Kompany. The former captain of Manchester City, who cut his teeth at Anderlecht then at Burnley, therefore agreed to leave the Premier League to take on a new challenge. A challenge in a giant of European football and logically with much more pressure than he had experienced.

Very quickly, Vincent Kompany silenced the first criticisms by offering an ultra-offensive and intense style of play. Enough to crush your opponents and beat several teams. The big victory against Dynamo Zagreb (9-2) in the Champions League or the success (4-0) against Stuttgart logically provoked a reaction. But followers of German football were waiting to see the face displayed by this team against tougher opponents. And the first tests were not conclusive, especially on the defense side. Defeated against Aston Villa in C1, the German club was slapped by Barça this Wednesday (4-1) in the Champions League. A result which confirmed the team’s major defensive concerns in addition to the recent draw (3-3) against Frankfurt.

A defense that worries

Since the start of the season, Bayern Munich have conceded 14 goals in 11 matches. It’s far too much to hope to do anything against the big European teams. It must be said that Vincent Kompany’s style of play is clearly focused on the offensive with a very high defensive line and intense pressing. But it is clear that this does not seem to be very effective defensively and the latest results (only 1 victory in the last 5 matches) raise questions. According to information from BILDmanagement is starting to worry about the team’s defensive problems and wants to see progress in this area.

The leaders believe that this is clearly not tenable in high-level matches against formidable attackers and the match against Barça illustrated this. Proof that initial doubts remain, the subject was clearly raised internally this week. The German daily explains that Vincent Kompany was warned that he had to correct defensive problems very quickly to achieve his objectives. But the idea is not to restrain the Belgian coach and forget his formidable offensive animation. We will therefore have to find the right balance so as not to experience the next few hectic weeks. Especially since for the moment, the club seems to appreciate the coach and the offensive efficiency of the team. But we must not forget to defend…