Episode description

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Vincent Kompany is one of European football’s most exciting young managers – so exciting, he got handed the keys to German giants Bayern Munich, the season after relegating Burnley from the Premier League to the Championship. It’s a strange trajectory, and at the time, his appointment in Munich raised more than a few eyebrows. How had Kompany gone from relegation to one of Europe’s biggest, most historic clubs? Was it because he was a student of Pep Guardiola, the ex-Bayern boss? Was he somehow failing upwards?

This episode of Football Daily is hosted by documentary maker for Copa90, Eli Mengem. Eli heads off on a journey to understand how Kompany has had such a remarkable rise in football management by analysing his youth, playing career and early steps in management, speaking to his ex-teammate Kyle Walker, ex-manager Hugo Broos and others along the way. It maps Kompany’s rise, but also asks bigger questions too. We’ll speak to journalist at the Athletic Seb Stafford-Bloor about whether Kompany’s appointment is a harbinger for a new style of manager coming to the fore in Europe. And we’ll ask Troy Townsend, the ex-head of the UK’s anti-racism in football charity Kick It Out, about how Kompany’s experience as one of the very few black managers in Europe has affected his rise.

As Kompany thrives in the Bundesliga in his first season, this episode of Football Daily arrives at the perfect time to dispel some of the myths around him, while examining his personality off the pitch, to create a portrait of what is one of the most fascinating personalities and footballing stories in the modern game.