I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 923: Chapter 21: Heavy Bombardment_2

As he stated: ”My background gives me the ability to see through adversity, and the genes of Bayern Munich demand that we turn every tough battle into a legend.”

Opinions vary on Kompany’s coaching level at Bayern Munich, but from many perspectives, his coaching results are commendable.

Last season, Bayern Munich, with one extra match, led Bayer Leverkusen by 11 points in the Bundesliga and successfully reached the Champions League round of 16. These achievements strongly demonstrate Kompany’s compatibility with Bayern Munich, despite initial external disputes.

We must be clear that Bayern Munich is a club centered around players.

This means having a glorious playing career experience is helpful for coaching work.

For decades, Bayern has been managed by former football players like Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Uli Hoeness. Because of this, Bayern Munich is unique in top football, deeply influenced by player-born managers.

This may also be why Kompany was chosen as the head coach of Bayern Munich.

Of course, being an excellent player does not necessarily make one a great coach, that’s not what I mean.

But coaches without practical experience have always struggled on the Munich coaching bench.

For instance, Carlo Ancelotti, Jupp Heynckes, and Pep Guardiola.

Former football players best understand the players’ goals in specific situations on the field. With their own experiences, they are more familiar with the difficulties, opportunities, and risks involved.

This empathy enables a bond and mutual care between coaches and players, which is why Ancelotti could get along so well with outstanding players.

This is precisely why Kompany aligns well with Bayern Munich. As a central defender, Kompany is smart, charismatic, and possesses strategic thinking.

His appointment was surprising because he wasn’t the popular choice on paper. But it’s important to remember, a resume doesn’t tell everything. The Bundesliga has a tradition of giving young coaches without coaching experience a chance; German football is keen on trying new things.

Kompany’s real key lies in his personal attributes: he is a person admired by players.

During his tenure at Manchester City as captain and a ”coach” in defense, he proved his leadership abilities.

This sounds like a cliché, but it indeed provided him with one of two prerequisites to land the job at Bayern Munich. It enabled him to identify which players could cooperate well, which players complement each other on the field, and what combinations create team chemistry.

This is crucial, something not every coach has understood in the past.

Like other coaches in Munich, Kompany dominates the domestic football scene.

Bayern Munich’s lineup has always been Germany’s strongest, explaining their lead over Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. Although the team coached by Xabi Alonso initially gained the upper hand against Bayern Munich last season, they ultimately failed to defeat Bayern Munich.

Even with Real Madrid this season, Alonso couldn’t gain a better advantage.

They still lost to Bayern Munich, lost to Kompany.

Bayern Munich achieved better results leveraging the individual strengths of their players.

Moreover, Kompany seems to understand one thing: Bayern Munich is different from other clubs.

Players have significant influence at Bayern Munich, and everyone knows that Hoeness and Rummenigge are always paying attention to the team.

This means to be a successful coach at Bayern Munich, one must not only have high tactical skills but also excellent social skills.

Kompany seems to understand this balance of power, wisely staying out of internal strife.

So, Kompany possesses the first prerequisite: with his experience on the field, he knows how to create team chemistry. But does he possess the second condition? Does he have his own unique style and philosophy, something akin to Guardiola?

During his three years in Munich, Guardiola delved into every conceivable detail.

His demands on training were extremely stringent. Under his leadership, we became a united collective.

His exceptional leadership talents were reflected in his words and how he communicated with us. He spoke skillfully, making you pay attention to every word he said.

Heynckes, who led us to the Triple Crown in 2013, had the ability to convey his experiences as both a player and coach to the team. He consistently knew who the team’s top five, ten, and fifteen players were and how they should cooperate to achieve the best results. This reinforced the principle of strength at the core and elevated the coach’s authority.

This is what allows a team to exceed the sum of its parts. And this is precisely what Munich has lacked in the past four to five years.

Clearly, Kompany has been influenced by his former coach Guardiola, who revolutionized modern ball control football.

Guardiola was extremely attentive to every detail in training. Like a composer obsessed with every note of the orchestra, he conveyed his views clearly to everyone.

However, Kompany is not a carbon copy of Guardiola; every coach finds their own path. He also favors ball control tactics, hoping to control the rhythm of the game.

His Bayern Munich courageously adopted man-to-man defense, which means taking higher risks. But he seems to give the players more freedom than Guardiola did.

Under Kompany’s leadership, the team’s defense has become solid. In recent years, the team suffered from a lack of focus in defense and a lack of clear hierarchy among players, leading to many goals being conceded.

Kompany’s imprint is evident not only in the team’s organization but also in their patience during ball control.

His team has issues with overall balance; several aspects haven’t reached top-level standards.

For example, the midfield is susceptible to counterattacks. Ball control is often too slow, and they sometimes hesitate when pushing towards the goal, lacking penetration in the attacking third, resulting in attacks often being halted there.

Currently, Bayern Munich can’t maintain high-level offensive and defensive performances for a full 90 minutes.

These are the reasons why Alonso is still hopeful. If Bayern Munich were already flawless, Alonso might consider throwing in the towel.

...

Time quickly arrived at match day.

This time, Alonso didn’t use any smokescreen.

In the starting lineup, it was clear to see Chen Zhong placed in the center forward position; Alonso tasked Chen Zhong with playing the center forward, to challenge Bayern Munich’s defense, to become the one to win for Real Madrid.

During the match, all of this became even more apparent.

A player got the ball on the flank, then went down the corridor, followed by an immediate cross.

This trick often had miraculous effects against Barcelona.

Chen Zhong’s highlight reels were never short of such scenes where he pressed the opposing center back in the air to score, but this time his opponent was Tah.

1.95cm Tah.

Chen Zhong’s jumping ability is still top-notch; when he jumped, he leapt over Tah, but the physical strength of Tah was something Chen Zhong had not experienced before.

He felt tremendous resistance, causing Chen Zhong to become a / in the air. His head touched the ball but without strength.

This is very rare in Chen Zhong’s career.

The ball, almost without threat, ended up in the goalkeeper’s hands.

Real Madrid’s initial strike appeared to be all thunder and no lightning.

At this moment, countless people were filled with doubt.

They looked at Chen Zhong, couldn’t help but think in their hearts, is this the right choice?

To let him do this?