Kompany: "Be hungry or go somewhere else" | OneFootball

From his early years at Anderlecht to captaining Manchester City through an era of dominance, Vincent Kompany as a coach has been moulded by a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Now, at the helm of Bayern München, that same drive fuels his leadership. His message to his players is clear: “Be hungry or go somewhere else. It’s very simple.”

That hunger has defined Kompany’s entire footballing journey. He speaks of his upbringing in football, where winning was an expectation from an early age: “I've always been involved in football in high-demanding places. With Anderlecht, in the 1980s and 1990s, we were amongst the best youth teams in Europe. We would beat any big European team."

He added: "We always had that pressure from the age of six years old: of winning, playing well, behaving a certain way. So, by the time I arrived at top-level football, that was already a big part of me. It continued at Manchester City, of course, where we had the highest ambitions as well."

For Kompany, Bayern is simply the next chapter in a familiar story: “To then become the coach of Bayern, it was actually something very familiar for me. I didn't enter an environment I didn’t understand, I entered an environment I grew up in.”

His transition from player to coach has been seamless, largely because he understands the mindset of his squad: “I can identify a lot with the players I see here. There is not a big difference with the dressing rooms I knew at Manchester City. It’s definitely an advantage. I know what motivates them. I understand what their ambitions are, and what their simple concerns are. Sometimes, it's not always about the big things, but the small things they’re going through that maybe the outside world doesn't want to understand. I’ve been there, I’ve been in these types of dressing rooms, and I’m lucky to have a very good group of players who enjoy spending their time together.”

At Bayern, success is expected, but so is continuity. The club is as much about its past as it is about its future: “Despite being global and super advanced in terms of branding and the commercial [side], it remains a very traditional club. So, wherever Bayern goes, it’s still the club people from the 1990s, 80s, 70s, or 60s can associate with. It lives every day within this club, that tradition. We’re trying to continue the next chapter of this club, of course, and you also feel the full power and full commitment to achieving footballing success in the future.”

When asked about young stars Jamal Musiala and Aleksandar Pavlovic, Kompany added: “Every great club has not just got guys who are performing now, but long-term ideas. You must have succession [plans] and have the next players who are going to carry the identity and DNA of the club.

"You’ve mentioned two players, and you can see the impact they are already having on the pitch. I think they are going to become better and when the current leaders eventually pass the guard, it will be for them as well [to step up].”