Kompany player-led shake-up returns Bayern to Bundesliga glory

The 39-year-old Belgian has achieved this through a player-focused approach while successfully navigating the club's complex politics. Despite Bayern's 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, they secured the title 24 hours later when last year's champions Bayer Leverkusen drew 2-2 at Freiburg.

Bayern surprised many when they paid Burnley compensation to hire Kompany, whose inexperience as a manager had been exposed when the English club were relegated from the Premier League, a year after he guided them back to the elite.

The former Manchester City and Belgium defender, though, showed he had learned from that and brought harmony and unity back to the Bayern dressing room, an area in which some of his more experienced predecessors had failed.

By getting the team behind him, Kompany has been able to dodge criticism despite disappointing exits from the Champions League and German Cup.

While calm never lasts long at Bayern, a club nicknamed "FC Hollywood" due to the penchant for off-field drama, Kompany has the German giants back where, in their eyes at least, they belong.

'It's about the players'

Bayern's ego-filled dressing room can be treacherous, even for the most tactically astute managers, as recent hires Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel can attest.

Younger than captain Manuel Neuer and a former teammate of winger Leroy Sane, Kompany was there when Thomas Muller made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern in 2008, playing for Hamburg.

Having only hung up his boots in 2020, Kompany had ideas of how to make the coach-player relationship more harmonious. He scrapped fines for minor indiscretions and gave players more time off, particularly after away trips.

He does not criticise his players publicly or in front of the squad, preferring to give critical feedback individually. This is a marked change from Tuchel's reign, when the coach would go before the cameras and question why his players had failed to follow his tactics.

While Kompany has a clear tactical approach, he has empowered players within that system, rather than lamenting their shortcomings. Kompany successfully returned Joshua Kimmich to his preferred midfield position.

He has reinvigorated Leon Goretzka, who was on the outside earlier in the season, while Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise have played the best football of their career.

In late April, with the title imminent, Kompany was unequivocal about who would deserve the praise if he won his first major silverware as a coach.

"As a coach, you feel it's the players who've won the title, so I wouldn't say it's my title," Kompany said. "It's about the players. Talent determines a lot. I want them to get the chance to show their best. I hope we can do it."

'New beginnings'

Kompany has been lauded by the club's bosses, but he will know how quickly a honeymoon can turn sour at Bayern. Since Kompany's mentor Pep Guardiola left after three years in charge in 2016, none of Bayern's eight coaches have spent two full seasons at the club.

The quarter-final Champions League exit to Inter Milan, which ended Bayern's dreams of playing in the final at home, would normally spark criticism of the manager. Kompany, however, benefited from taking over a club that went trophyless last season.

Kompany has Bayern on track for 82 points - only five teams in league history have finished with more -- but failed to beat Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund home and away in the league.

At Bayern, having the players on side counts for little if the winning stops. In 2019, Hansi Flick took over mid-campaign and piloted Bayern to a sextuple. A season later, he was gone after a dispute with the club's hierarchy.

Bayern veteran Muller, who leaves at the end of the campaign, said, "it's been a season of new beginnings, of heading in the right direction. Since Pep Guardiola, no coach-squad combination has really clicked," Muller told the Bundesliga website on Wednesday.

"With Hansi Flick, we had very successful times, but even then, there was some friction between the coach and the club management. So that completely harmonious picture - the one we've seen this season - that unity between team, coach, and club, wasn't quite there (under Flick)."