Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl has provided an update on Vincent Kompany after the head coach collapsed during a training session on Friday and was taken to the hospital.
Kompany had finished overseeing the first team’s training before heading over to watch Bayern Munich II’s session. He was standing alongside second-team coach Dante when he collapsed, prompting the immediate cancellation of training and his hospitalization.
Per Bild (via @iMiaSanMia), the incident also led to the postponement
of Bayern Munich II’s Regionalliga fixture against DJK Vilzing, originally scheduled for Saturday. Given the shock experienced by the young players who witnessed the incident, both clubs quickly agreed that postponing the match was the right decision.
According to reports from Tz journalists Philipp Kessler and Mano Bonke (via @iMiaSanMia), Kompany had also spent a night in the hospital earlier in the week after experiencing health issues, although the initial examinations reportedly returned negative results. Despite recovering sufficiently to return to work, the Belgian had continued pushing himself, something that has reportedly become a concern within the club.
Eberl confirmed that Kompany remains stable but will stay in the hospital for further examinations.
“First of all, the good news is that he is stable. Obviously, it was a difficult moment for all of us. He collapsed on the pitch yesterday and is now in the hospital, where he will remain for a few more days while they establish exactly what happened, carry out all the examinations, and check everything thoroughly. It just goes to show once again that football isn’t the most important thing in life. The most important thing is your health. We’re all sending Vinnie our best wishes for a speedy recovery,” Eberl said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Only then can they determine the appropriate treatment. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not going to draw any conclusions or make any assumptions. He is in the best possible hands, and that’s the most important thing. What we can do in the meantime is support him emotionally, give him positive energy, and show him our love as he goes through this difficult phase.”
Eberl also explained that doctors are continuing to investigate what caused the collapse, emphasizing that the club will not speculate before the necessary examinations are complete.
“He had experienced some minor issues last week as well. He is now in the hospital, and since yesterday evening, the doctors have naturally been focused on finding out what the problem is. The examinations are ongoing, and they have yielded some results, but further tests are needed to establish exactly what is wrong,” said Eberl (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Only then can they determine the appropriate treatment. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not going to draw any conclusions or make any assumptions. He is in the best possible hands, and that’s the most important thing. What we can do in the meantime is support him emotionally, give him positive energy, and show him our love as he goes through this difficult phase.”
Why Bayern Munich II’s match was postponed
Asked whether Bayern Munich should also consider postponing Saturday’s Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg, Eberl distinguished between the circumstances surrounding the two fixtures.
“With the second team, it happened during their training session, so they experienced it firsthand. For the 17- and 18-year-old boys, it was quite something — many haven’t had to experience anything negative like that yet. Sometimes things just happen. And the boys were a bit overwhelmed; that’s only human. Thanks to Vilzing and the Bavarian Football Association for being able to say so quickly: let’s postpone the game,” said Eberl (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “There are more important things than football. As for our fans against Freiburg, we didn’t consider canceling it. We’ve had the situation with Jamal, the dramatic event with Jo’s dad, and now Vinnie. These things affect us as people. Everyone looks out for each other; that’s what FC Bayern is all about: that everyone is there for everyone else.
“We’re there for ourselves and for everyone else who’s affected. That’s Bayern Munich, it’s what truly defines us, it strengthens us as a family, that we go through this together and are there for each other, that’s the most important thing.”
Could Bayern have done more to prevent Kompany from overworking?
Naturally, questions have emerged about whether Bayern Munich could have intervened sooner to prevent Kompany from pushing himself too hard. Eberl explained that the club had already taken precautions before the Champions League match against Arsenal, but the coach had felt well enough to resume his responsibilities.
“Of course, people can try to find someone to blame, but the fact is that we protect our coach wherever we can. When a coach says, ‘I feel ready to do things,’ we are not in a position to know exactly how he is feeling. We cannot simply say, ‘Okay, we’re not going to allow you to do that.’ We had already held him back for two days. The coaching staff kept him out for two days before the Arsenal game because we knew he had this virus,” said Eberl (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “However, he had recovered well and felt fine. At that point, it becomes difficult to tell him, ‘You’re not allowed to do this.’ He has his own voice, of course, and the right to express himself. He wanted to be involved in the game, and everything seemed fine. He felt well. But now this has happened. Of course, there is also a certain degree of personal responsibility involved in recognizing when to say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t carry on.’ And I think Vinnie is such an outstanding personality and such an incredible worker that he tends to push himself beyond that point.
“Perhaps something has been lost in our society in this regard, but there are still people like him who simply say, ‘I want to get things done. I want to work.’ There is also a great saying: ‘If you don’t listen to the quietest signals your body sends you, eventually your body will scream.’ And that’s what has happened now, unfortunately, and we all have to respect that. I would also really appreciate it if we could give everyone involved some time at this stage.
“Of course, we will answer the questions we can, and we will do our best to shed light on what remains unclear, as far as possible. But this is not an easy situation for us either, and I would be very grateful if we could allow everyone the time they need. Vinnie will be given that time. We will also continue to make an even greater effort than before to protect him from himself, so to speak. But if we turn to the game tomorrow in Freiburg, I think the greatest joy for Vinnie would be for us to play well tomorrow and, ideally, get a positive result. That would probably be one of the best things we could do to help him recover.”
No return date set for Kompany
Eberl made it clear that Bayern Munich will not rush Kompany back into the dugout, stressing that the club must first understand what happened before determining the next steps.
“Vinnie will be given all the time he needs. We’re not starting to build any timeframes. We need to figure out what it is, and then we’ll discuss what recovery time means. We won’t be talking about days, but weeks. We all understand that. And we have such a fantastic coaching staff, with Vinnie at its head. But the success is based on an outstanding team behind the scenes,” said Eberl (as captured by@iMiaSanMia).“There’s absolutely no thought of changing anything. All the guys who are here are outstanding—and therefore we can all approach the next few weeks in the spirit of Vinnie, which everyone has within them.”
The priority for Bayern Munich is now straightforward — establish the cause of Kompany’s collapse, ensure that he receives the appropriate treatment, and give him the time necessary to recover fully.
Football can wait. Kompany’s health comes first.
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