When Vincent Kompany was announced as the Bayern Munich manager ahead of the 2024/25 season, it felt like a bit of a joke.
A real ‘games gone’ moment.
He had, after all, just steered Burnley to a miserable 19th-place finish in the Premier League.
Somehow, he failed upwards and was rewarded for a disastrous relegation campaign with the keys to one of the greatest football clubs in history.
Off the back of Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible season, it was imperative that the Bavarians reclaimed the title that they had won 11 times in a row before Xabi Alonso’s historic campaign.
With Thomas Tuchel out the door, the Belgian up-and-comer was appointed.
It was a modest debut season in Germany for Kompany, who won the Bundesliga comfortably with 25 wins and 99 goals scored.
Outside of the league, there was certainly more to be desired.
Knocked out in the Round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal, the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Being a young coach, particularly one who has come from an illustrious playing career, can come with a range of complications and expectations.
Often, people assume that a great player will automatically become a great coach, which is why legendary players like Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, and Andrea Pirlo were all thrust into high-profile roles with next to no experience, ultimately failing.
In Komany’s case, it was clear that he was destined to become a world-class coach, but that doesn’t mean the Bayern Munich move felt right at the time.
His centurion campaign with Burnley to gain promotion from the EFL Championship demonstrated his potential, but his immediate relegation also showcased his naivety as a new coach.
The problem with his appointment at Bayern Munich is that he had done nothing to deserve a promotion of that magnitude.
If anything, his career should have taken a step backwards after such a disastrous campaign with Burnley.
But the doubt and the disbelief have been dispelled this season, and we might be witnessing the rise of one of the greatest managers in this emerging new generation of coaches.
With a statement 2-1 victory over defending champions PSG in the UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich continue their incredible winning run, making it 16 wins in 16 games to start the season.
They are yet to yield a single point.
Following a perfect preseason, Bayern kick-started their campaign with silverware, lifting the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup for the first time in three years with a 2-1 victory over VFB Stuttgart.
With new signings Luis Diaz, Nicolas Jackson, and Jonathan Tah, Bayern entered the season with a well-balanced squad, and they’re already punishing the Bundesliga with nine wins in nine games, plus 33 goals scored and only four conceded.
The German giants thrashed second-place RB Leipzig 6-0 in their opening game of the season (it’s Leipzig’s only defeat of the season in all comps), comfortably dispatched Chelsea 3-1 in the UCL, and dealt with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen with minimal issue.
In their first monumental challenge of the season, they fended off a brutal PSG side in France.
Impressive enough on its own, but even more significant given they played the entire second half with ten men after Luis Diaz was shown a red card.
So far in the 2025/26 season, Bayern have been faultless.
Top of the Bundesliga, top of the UEFA Champions League ladder.
People often call it a farmer’s league, but that hasn’t been the case in recent years.
In the 2022/23 season, it took Jamal Musiala’s 89th-minute strike on the final day of the season to clinch the Bundesliga title, and that only came because Borussia Dortmund (in typical fashion) choked and dropped points.
The next year, Bayern surrendered the title before reclaiming it in Komany’s debut campaign.
He probably won’t get the credit he deserves for his first Bundesliga title, but if Bayern continue their current momentum until the end of the season, he will establish himself clearly as one of the best.
Having already signed a contract extension until 2029, it’s clear that his work is invaluable to the German club’s success.
If they defeat Union Berlin this weekend, they will match the record for the longest winning run to begin a Bundesliga season.
The current record is held by Kompany’s former coach, Pep Guardiola, from the 2015/16 season.
They could also have a crack at matching Xabi Alonso’s recent record, going unbeaten for an entire year.
And the all-time points record of 91, which was set by Jupp Heynckes’ treble-winning squad of 2012/13, which are known as one of the greatest sides of all time.
With 33 goals scored already, Bayern has a chance to shatter the record for most goals in a Bundesliga campaign, which is currently 101 – they came close last year with 99.
How Bayern continue to perform in the Champions League will be critical to the success of the campaign, but right now the Bavarians aren’t holding back, and with no sign of weakness after 16 competitive games, it’s time to stop ignoring the fact that Vincent Kompany is one of the best in the business.