AMAZING Vincent Kompany Tactic
While managing in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola has had many supporters so far. And in the same category of “many” we find his staff members as well.
And two of those members of his staff are now elite football managers, fighting against him to win the Premier League trophy.
But what if I told you that there is another one that attained the same elite level?
Ok, I know this needs some context, but bear with me.
While there are no records (found by me) that point towards Vincent Kompany learning football management traits from Pep Guardiola, I am sure an idea or two were taken from the grandmaster.
Vincent Kompany began his professional career at Anderlecht, being part of their illustrious youth system. He played for the club for three seasons as a first-team player before moving to Bundesliga club Hamburg in 2006.
In the summer of 2008, he completed a transfer to Premier League club Manchester City. The best move of his career – some would say.
In the 2011–12 season, he was awarded the captaincy of City, leading his club to win the Premier League that season, their first league title in 44 years.
Kompany won eleven more trophies at City and made 360 total appearances. In May 2019 it was announced that he would move to Anderlecht, where he spent one more season before retiring as a player.
In August 2020 it was announced that Vincent Kompany would be the head coach of…you guessed it, Anderlecht for the next four seasons.
In August 2021, his team was eliminated from the Europa Conference League qualifiers by Vitesse, 5-4 on aggregate, but they did finish 3rd in the Belgian league.
Burnley came calling and in June 2022, Kompany was appointed manager of the Championship club. A move that would make any other up and coming manager envious at the time.
Burnley won promotion to the Premier League, with seven matches remaining, after a stellar season. This meant that Vincent Kompany was about to test his managerial skills in a top European division the following season.
But the welcoming was brutal for the Belgian, his team losing 3-0 to non-other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. The master was still better than the apprentice.
However, the performance on the pitch was not as bad as the score suggests for Burnley.
In December 2023, Burnley won 2–0 against Fulham and moved out of the relegation zone. But at the end of the season, the team got relegated, finishing 19th with a club record low tally of 24 points.
Several publications named Kompany “tactically naïve”, “stubborn”, “inexperienced” and the team’s relegation was dubbed as the worst one in the Premier League.
But it was Kompany who had the last laugh.
In May 2024 the Belgian manager was named Bayern Munich manager, surprising the world of football, especially the ones who called him “tactically naïve”, “stubborn” and “inexperienced”, as they were left speechless for a moment.
Burnley were reported to have received 10 million pounds in compensation for letting Vincent Kompany go.
But as surprising as the move was at the time, it provided Kompany with a different stage, where he seems to be more comfortable.
For context, Bayern were reported to have tried to bring in Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann or Oliver Glasner. And bringing Kompany in after paying his compensation fee shows that the Belgian manager did have the qualities that Bayern were looking for.
Kompany debut was a 4-0 win over SV Ulm in the German Cup and this was already a step forward for the club, compared to Thomas Tuchel’s last time in the German Cup first round.
Nine days later, his Bundesliga debut as a manager was a 3–2 win at VfL Wolfsburg. In mid-September, prior to their annual visit to Oktoberfest, his team scored 20 goals over three games – two away wins in the domestic league and a 9–2 Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb, becoming the first ever manager to score more than eight goals in a Champions League match. Take that Hansi Flick I suppose.
Currently, Bayern Munich are first in the Bundesliga table, having 6 points over Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. And in the Champions League the team still has a chance to qualify for the next rounds of the competition.
Vincent Kompany’s playing style resembles Pep Guardiola’s in the sense that it is possession-based.
The Belgian greatly employs his team’s technical quality, leaning towards fluidity on the pitch rather than a rigid structure.
Players seem to interchange positions on the pitch and to be looking to disrupt the opposition build-up. The fullbacks often move into midfield, attackers switch positions with each other, and central midfielders drop deep to assist in ball progression.
This kind of flexibility creates numerical superiority in different areas, allowing Bayern to bypass the opposition’s press while maintaining control.
The movement seems to be coordinated and dynamic, with constant interchanging between lines, making it difficult for opponents to predict or disrupt Bayern’s build-up play.
Of course, this heavily relies on the players to create this kind of movement, but it wouldn’t have happened without the Belgian’s vision.
In the game, I went with a 4-2-3-1 formation. A sweeper keeper on attack duty. But this role was not chosen because of Vincent Kompany’s approach, but because of Manuel Neuer. So, the role might differ for other teams.
The back four is made of two ball playing defenders on defend duty, one full back on support on the right side and one wing back on support on the left one.
The full back is asked to take more risks, hold position and sit narrower. The player here will eventually venture forward if the team’s possession is prolonged and the teammates need another passing option.
And the wing back is told to stay wider, to stretch the pitch when the team is in possession.
Be careful that the center backs being ball playing ones means that they will step out of the defensive line at times to provide a passing option.
The two defensive midfielders are a defensive midfielder on defend duty and a Segundo volante on support.
Different other combinations could be made here, based on your squad. This is the one that worked better for this tactic.
The Segundo volante on support duty comes without player instructions. So, you either rely on the player traits for this position or you could ask the player here to take more risks and get further forward.
And the front four are one winger on support on the right side, an attacking midfielder on attack, an inverted winger on attack and an advanced forward on attack.
The winger role was preferred as Leroy Sane or sometimes Michael Olise keep close to the touchline before running down the flank or cutting inside with the ball. Stretching the pitch, they could also provide a cross in the box if the opportunity arises.
The attacking midfielder is told to roam from position as Jamal Musiala (when played in this position) often overlaps Harry Kane and attacks the goal. Or he comes deep to get the ball.
And the inverted winger is told to take more risks and sit narrower.
The striker can also be a deep lying forward on support or a complete forward on attack duty.
I chose the advanced forward role as it is the most efficient one in this year’s game edition.
Mark tighter as player instruction for him.
As mentality I chose positive.
In possession, fairly narrow attacking width and play out of defence. Shorter passing directness and a slightly higher tempo. And play for set pieces, but this is not required.
In transition, counter-press and distribute the ball to the center backs through short kicks.
And out of possession, a high press and a standard defensive line. Trigger press slightly more often, prevent the goalkeeper short distribution and step up more.
In my building a nation save, in Malta, with FC Valletta, we dominated domestically. We scored 96 goals in the goal and conceded only 10. We were invincible and we also won the Maltese Cup and the Supercup.
However, as the true test in European competitions for a team such as ours, we failed in the UEFA Champions League, but we did qualify to the Europa League league phase. Where we only managed to earn 7 points, not enough to qualify for the next phase of the competition.
But we did draw with Bayer Leverkusen, so that’s a plus I guess.
When I first heard that Vincent Kompany took over Bayern Munich, I thought that it was going to be a difficult job for him. And it’s not that it isn’t, but he seems to be managing very well so far, I hope that this promising start to his managerial career will help him win some trophies and help us enjoy a beautiful football in the future.
