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Bayern Munich’s desperate search for a manager to succeed Thomas Tuchel feels like a lifetime ago. After confirming back in February they would part ways with their head coach, the club were unable to appoint a successor until the end of May.
The ‘godfather of gegenpressing’ Ralf Rangnick was heavily linked with the job. A humiliating reunion with Julian Nagelsmann was touted. An even more humiliatingly reconciliation with Tuchel before he walked out the Allianz Arena doors was briefly on the table.
Alas, their attempts to bring in a German candidate who knew the Bundesliga inside out proved fruitless. Attention then surprisingly turned to Vincent Kompany, who had just overseen Burnley’s meek relegation from the Premier League and proclaimed his readiness for the challenge of winning promotion from the Championship for a second time.
It was a gamble based on promise and potential. The Clarets’ 2022-23 campaign was built on a young and newly-assembled team playing pretty football, before living and dying by those principles the following season. So far, Bayern have benefitted from Kompany’s ‘tweaked’ approach and newfound discipline.
Heading into Saturday’s clash with arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, Bayern have pieced together a run of seven-successive clean sheets, all the while maintaining the extra attacking edge they had hoped for under their new boss.