Why Vincent Kompany's philosophy can succeed at Bayern Munich?

Vincent Kompany arrived at Bayern Munich as a former world-class defender still in the early stages of his managerial career. With his prior managerial experience consisting of only three years at his boyhood club Anderlecht in Belgium, and two years at Burnley in England, his current resume would easily fit on just one side of a page.

If Kompany proves to be a success with the record German Champions despite his inexperience, he wouldn’t be the first former player to succeed in the dugout against the odds.

For a recent example of a similar feat, one must look back no further than Bayer Leverkusen’s current coach and former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso. After three years of coaching in Spain’s lower divisions at Real Sociedad, Alonso returned to Germany in October 2022 to manage then relegation-threatened Leverkusen. In less than two years, the former midfield maestro transformed the struggling team into unbeaten Bundesliga champions, DFB-Pokal Champions, and Europa League runners-up, rounding off a brilliant 2023/24 for the team once unceremoniously dubbed Neverkusen.

With Xabi Alonso’s and Leverkusen’s achievements fresh in our minds let us now take a deeper look at why the Bavarian faithful may want to hold off from dismissing Vincent Kompany's appointment.