Vincent Kompany prioritizes mentality at Bayern Munich over having a specific identity

The Belgian manager just wants his team to continuously show the right attitude and work ethic. For him, there is no such thing as “Kompany Ball.”

On paper, it had been an exceptional start to life as Bayern Munich manager for Vincent Kompany. From his first three competitive matches, he has collected three wins and his side has recorded two clean sheets in that process; a 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over SSV Ulm in the first round of the tournament followed by two Bundesliga wins against VfL Wolfsburg (3-2) and SC Freiburg (2-0). It has not been perfect for Kompany and Bayern, but three wins out of three will have certainly silenced some of his sceptics, at least for now as European football pauses for an international break.

After not winning any silverware under Thomas Tuchel last season, there is added pressure for Kompany this time around, especially considering how his pedigree compares to his predecessor and Bayern managers before him. From the opening three matches, we have seen in glimpses how well he has the squad disciplined and how he can be selective with when he wants them to press high up the pitch, but there is still not yet a defined, concrete identify to his style.

For Kompany, not having a labeled or branded identity at Bayern yet is not something he views as a negative. For the Belgian manager, he is less worried about specific labels and brands as he is getting his squad to have the right mindset instilled on a consistent basis.

“It doesn’t have to be Vincent Kompany football, it has to be Bayern football. What’s important to me is that we show the right mentality, again and again, and that we help each other. But I’m a coach, so I’m never satisfied with everything. But if the mentality is right, then you can work. We had a good pre-season, a nice win against Freiburg and we started the season well,” the manager recently explained to RanSport and SPOX’s Martin Volkmar.

Hopefully for Kompany, none of his international players come back from the international break with fresh injury concerns. The summer transfer window is over and he now has his set squad as they push across three fronts this season, but injury concerns have so often been the achilles’ heel for Bayern. Deep depth is a luxury that is not always appreciated in times when it is not so desperately needed, but it will be paramount for Kompany to use as many rotations as he sees fit too keep all of his players fit and firing on all cylinders.