Vincent Kompany will be absent from FC Bayern for the time being. The coach of the record-holding champions collapsed on Friday after his team’s practice while watching the reserve team train.
This came as a shock to the team and the club’s leadership. Bayern is concerned about the coach but is also looking out for the Belgian. Most recently, Max Eberl and Uli Hoeneß visited the coach at the hospital.
Sports director Eberl announced that Kompany will now be sidelined for several weeks. According to consistent reports, the Bayern coach has been working very hard in recent weeks and months, sleeping irregularly, and this has already been a topic of discussion within the team on several occasions.
Effenberg Warns Bayern About Kompany
Stefan Effenberg has since also commented on the situation surrounding the Bayern coach. “The job takes a lot of energy. You have 25 or 28 players on the roster—they’re like little kids—and then there are the press conferences and all that; it really wears you down,” explained the former player for Germany’s record-holding champions on the show “Doppelpass” on Sport1.
According to Effenberg, it’s now “up to FC Bayern’s medical team to put a stop to this.” Max Eberl had already emphasized that they don’t want to rush anything and that Kompany has all the time in the world to recover.
Effenberg urged Bayern to exercise caution. “Of course he wants to be there for games like the one against Arsenal—I can understand that—but it’s a sign that you have to think about,” said the former Bayern pro.
In addition, the former national team player fully understands that coaches are under particular psychological pressure and tend to exhibit a certain degree of perfectionism: “If things aren’t going well as a coach, you’re out. It’s different for players—they’ll still find a spot somewhere else.”
Assistant coach Aaron Danks, who is now taking over Kompany’s duties, also stated that while he is in contact with Kompany, the two do not discuss soccer-related matters—the focus is solely on his health and recovery.