Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl says the club will make greater efforts to protect manager Vincent Kompany from pushing himself too hard as he recovers from a recent illness.
Kompany will be absent from the team for several weeks, according to Eberl, who was speaking at a news conference on Saturday, one day before Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Freiburg.
Reports in the German media suggested that the Belgian’s habit of working long hours and getting little sleep may have contributed to his recent health problems.
Asked whether Bayern should have intervened earlier to stop Kompany from exhausting himself, Eberl said the club had protected its manager as far as possible.
“Of course, people can try to find someone to blame, but the truth is that we protect our coach as much as we can,” he said.
“When a coach says he feels ready to do his job, we cannot know precisely how he really feels. We cannot simply tell him that we will not allow him to do it.”
Eberl said Bayern had already kept Kompany away from work for two days before their match against Arsenal because he had a virus. However, he added that the manager recovered well and felt fit to return.
“We kept him away from work for two days before the Arsenal game because we knew he had a virus,” Eberl said.
“But he recovered well and felt fine. At that point, it becomes difficult to tell him that he is not allowed to carry out his responsibilities.”
Eberl refers to ‘signals from the body’
Eberl said Kompany had wanted to be involved and appeared to be well enough to do so, while also acknowledging that individuals have a responsibility to recognise when they need to stop.
“He has his own opinion and has the right to express it. He wanted to take part in the match, everything seemed to be fine and he felt well,” Eberl said.
“There is a degree of personal responsibility in recognising the moment when you have to say: ‘I do not want to continue this, I am no longer able to carry on.’
“I think Vinny is an exceptional person and incredibly hard-working. Perhaps our society has lost something in that respect, but there are still people like him who simply say: ‘I want to get things done, I want to work.’”
Eberl referred to the importance of listening to early warnings from the body.
“There is also a great saying: if you do not listen to the weakest signals your body sends you, eventually your body will scream,” he said.
“Unfortunately, that is what happened, and we all have to respect it.”
Eberl called for everyone involved to be given the time needed to deal with the situation. He said Bayern would answer the questions it could and clarify anything that remained unclear.
“Vinny will get the time he needs, and we will make greater efforts than before to protect him from himself, so to speak,” he added.
Eberl said the best way Bayern’s players could support their manager now would be to perform well and secure a positive result against Freiburg on Sunday, 25 October 2026.
