Squad rotation under Vincent Kompany
Bayern will play six games across all competitions over the next three weeks. This will be the first time Kompany will be having a game every three days at Bayern. They will begin their Champions League campaign against Dinamo Zagreb at Allianz Arena on September 17. Bayern will travel to Aston Villa for matchday two of the Champions League on October 2.
Kompany cannot rely on a fixed starting XI during the upcoming run of six games. The Belgian coach must use the entire squad to avoid injuries. It will be a test of his tactical systems since the performance levels shouldn’t drop, irrespective of personnel.
The last few head coaches at Bayern have been reluctant to rotate the squad frequently. The lack of rotation eventually catches up with the team since players succumb to injuries due to the accumulation of fatigue. Moreover, effective squad rotation also leads to healthy competition in the squad.
Kompany has already played two different systems in the first two league games of the season, which led to changes in the starting XI. Kompany doesn’t have the entire squad available for selection in September (injuries to Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic), but he still has at least two options for every position. It will be intriguing to see how many changes Kompany will make every game in the next three weeks.