Following Vincent Kompany’s breakdown, Lothar Matthäus talks about the enormous pressure on coaches—and recalls his own sleepless nights.
Vincent Kompany’s breakdown has sparked a debate at FC Bayern about the enormous strain of a coach’s daily routine. Now Lothar Matthäus has also weighed in on the matter. The former Bayern pro and current TV analyst knows the pressure firsthand from his own experience as a coach and describes how deeply the job can affect you even off the field.
“Coaches are under a lot of pressure. It’s not like you just go to practice. I coached for a few years myself. Sometimes you even have trouble sleeping because so many thoughts are running through your head—thoughts that carry over into your dreams at night. Then you wake up, and sometimes you can’t fall back asleep because so much is going through your mind,” Matthäus said on Sky 90.
He said he could especially imagine that this strain is particularly intense for Kompany. The Bayern coach is known as a meticulous worker who pays close attention to details. Matthäus added: “And of course, he’s someone who really gets into the details. I think he thinks about soccer from morning till night. And of course, the pressure is immense.”
Matthäus talks about his own sleepless nights
At the same time, Matthäus made it clear that the pressure on coaches doesn’t just begin at kickoff and end after the final whistle. Decisions about tactics, lineups, and opponent analysis often keep those in charge occupied well beyond the workday.
“Because you bear all this responsibility, and it certainly hasn’t gotten any lighter. I coached teams 20 years ago—not at the very highest level, but I was still in the public eye and held accountable. Everyone is watching you. That’s why you don’t want to make mistakes—you want to be perfect. You also don’t want people to say afterward that you did something wrong: the tactics, fielding the wrong player, or perhaps not analyzing the opponent as thoroughly as you should have,” Matthäus explained.
The record-holding national team player described just how much this perfectionism weighed on him using a personal example: “And these thoughts go through your head especially at night, when you wake up and nothing is happening around you. It used to be that I’d be awake at four in the morning, have a cup of coffee around seven, and spend three hours thinking about soccer. That happened to me often because I was always questioning myself: ‘Are you doing everything right?’”
At FC Bayern, however, the focus right now isn’t on Kompany’s quick return, but on his full recovery. Matthäus expressly welcomes this approach. “They’re giving him plenty of time. To me, it goes without saying that a sick person who needs help and time should be given that time and that help.”
Kompany remains under medical care following his collapse. The club has already made it clear that he should not return to the sidelines until he is fully healthy. Until then, his coaching staff will handle the on-field duties.