FC Bayern won in Elversberg, but showed some uncharacteristic weaknesses on their way to a hard-fought victory. Vincent Kompany had some strong words to say about it.
‘In the end, I can still appreciate this win,’ said Vincent Kompany after Munich’s hard-fought 2–1 victory over the newly promoted side from Spiesen-Elversberg. For long periods, FC Bayern had struggled and had even conceded an equaliser at one stage. In the eyes of the FCB manager, however, the real problem was above all the performance in the first half. With the exception of Lennart Karl’s opening goal, his Bayern side had looked lacklustre in that period; even their high possession did little to help. For whilst Munich’s play was certainly dominant, it was characterised by little in the way of goal-scoring threat or creativity.
“Elversberg did well in all areas. They were very brave on the ball – and the goalkeeper’s role was also a bit different from what other teams might dare to do,” Kompany praised the newly promoted side on the DAZN microphone.
The Belgian quickly turned his attention to his own team and, in keeping with their performance, offered some critical remarks in his usual calm tone.
Kompany’s substitutes “saw exactly what was missing”
“Our tempo wasn’t good today; we weren’t there in the challenges as we normally are,” said Kompany. The German champions had generally made an unusually high number of passing errors, which the 40-year-old described as “not very precise”.
Compared to Thursday’s 5–0 win over Bodø/Glimt, the former professional had made seven changes to his starting line-up, leaving out vice-captain Joshua Kimmich and Luis Díaz, amongst others.
“Mentally, we were a step too slow at the start today. We can’t let that happen – we can’t afford to throw away a half,” criticised Kompany, “we have to be honest about that.” When asked whether this was a criticism of the “fresh players” who had been rotated into the starting line-up on Sunday, Kompany replied that this was not the case. “The lads who’ve been playing from the start have already put in some incredible performances for us,” he clarified, whilst also acknowledging, of course, that the substitutes have a certain advantage: “The lads who came on from the bench saw exactly what was missing. That’s also a luxury.”
Nevertheless, with a view to the upcoming fixtures, it was important to Kompany to highlight the difference between the first half and the period following the four-man substitution in the 65th minute, which had significantly altered the course of the match. It was important, he said, that his players “see the difference”. “In the end, we were there; we created plenty of chances.”
And that – combined with the victory, albeit a narrow one – was what counted for Kompany at the end of the day. Incidentally, Harry Kane had scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season. More could follow as early as this coming Friday, when Union Berlin are the visitors at the Allianz Arena.
