Vincent Kompany wants his Bayern Munich side to be “aggressive” and for his players “to have courage.” The former Burnley boss was officially unveiled as Bayern manager at the Allianz Arena on Thursday, and spoke alongside Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and director of sport Max Eberl. The 38-year-old’s appointment has raised eyebrows, but the club believe him to be a promising young coach.
Vincent Kompany has said he wants his Bayern Munich side to be “aggressive” during his official unveiling on Thursday.
The former Burnley manager was joined by Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and director of sport Max Eberl at the Allianz Arena.
Kompany replaces the outgoing Thomas Tuchel after the club struggled to find a replacement for the German, unsuccessfully luring Ralf Rangnick and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, amongst other names, according to reports.
“I grew up on the streets of Brussels, in Anderlecht’s academy,” Kompany said. “You have to be a team, I want my players to have courage, I want us to be aggressive.
“I want us to play like that, that’s also my character. We want to keep that up for entire games.”
Eberl resonated with Kompany’s possession-based style, saying: “As FC Bayern, we want to be dominant and aggressive.
“I’m very happy that it worked out with Vincent. We’ve found one of the most interesting coaches in Europe.”
Kompany added: “I’m extremely motivated every day and have the goal of making the lads better. What motivates me most are the times when things aren’t going well. Privately and professionally, that’s in my nature.
“Bayern is a great club, I want to take everyone with me on this journey. I don’t just want to have the best players, but also the best team.
“We want to win every game, always. That must always be our priority. Of course, the Champions League final is in Munich in 2025. But we won’t achieve that by talking about it, we’ll have to work hard for it every day in training.”
Kompany is part of a growing trend of coaches and former players who have worked with Pep Guardiola. The former City defender spent over a decade in Manchester and was captain for much of the Spaniard’s tenure.
Meanwhile, Guardiola won the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons at Bayern.
“I’ve played at the highest level in my career and I want to pass that on to my players. I would never compare myself to Pep Guardiola,” Kompany said.
“He was very important in my career. I’ve also recently spoken to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness and they also stand behind me. But I don’t want everyone to only be convinced of me beforehand, but also of my work on the pitch during my time here.”
The new boss has a connection with Bayern and Germany star Leroy Sane also, playing with him before his return to the Bundesliga in 2020.
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Burnley’s Kompany close to becoming Bayern manager – reports
“When I was in the Championship, I only watched the Championship, in the Premier League only the Premier League. You don’t have time to watch any more football,” Kompany explained.
“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.”
Eyebrows were raised at his appointment in Bavaria with Burnley suffering relegation under Kompany this year, but there is hope that his philosophy and methods will work well at Bayern and the 38-year-old agrees.
“I coached one of the youngest teams in Belgium and one of the smallest teams in England. What I bring to the table are things that will help the players to improve. I have a clear vision and will also implement it here in Germany,” he said.
“In our first year at Burnley in the Championship we set a record points tally, in our second in the Premier League we had one of the smallest budgets. We didn’t change much after promotion, I gave it my all. I’ve stayed the same. That’s why I have no plans to change here either.”