Sports
HARRY Kane can finally end his trophy drought as Vincent Kompany has changed the mood at Bayern Munich, says Germany legend Lothar Matthaus.
England captain Kane scored 36 Bundesliga goals in his first season at Bayern but his team finished a disappointing third, 18 points behind champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Thomas Tuchel departed at the end of the 2023-24 season with a year left on his contract and Kompany has since taken charge after leaving Burnley, who were relegated from the Premier League.
Kompany’s first league game in charge is on Sunday when Bayern go to Wolfsburg (14:30 BST), with Kane – who has yet to win a major trophy – set to lead the attack.
“I do not think he [Kane] will score 36 goals again,” Matthaus, a seven-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern Munich, told BBC Sport.
“But perhaps he will not need to. He will be motivated this year with a new coach, with a new team, with a new spirit.”
‘Tuchel’s a good coach – but not for Bayern’
Kane joined Bayern on a four-year deal in August 2023 for an initial 100m euros (£86.4m) plus add-ons, leaving Spurs as their all-time top scorer with 280 goals from 435 appearances.
Despite his goals, Kane’s first season in Germany fell flat as Bayern were also knocked out of the German Cup by third division side Saarbrucken, while they lost to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Matthaus, who captained West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup, believes the trophies will come for Kane now Tuchel has departed.
“In the last two years, Bayern Munich was not a family. Bayern Munich was a one-man show, and that one-man show was Thomas Tuchel,” he added.
“He is a good coach, but not for Bayern Munich.”
Matthaus claimed morale in the dressing room was low because former Chelsea boss Tuchel doubted certain players.
“It was not going down well in the dressing room because when you are [Joshua] Kimmich, when you are [Leon] Goretzka, players who wrote history at Bayern Munich, who won titles, now Tuchel is coming and saying he is looking for a number six? Saying I am not good enough?
“The atmosphere was not good because everyone was thinking, ‘I am not good enough for Bayern Munich any more but I won eight titles in the last eight years, I won the Champions League and I play for the Germany national team. What does he want?’
“This was a big problem because he did not give the players confidence. He lost a lot of players who were very important for Bayern Munich.”
‘Bayern will win Bundesliga’
Matthaus said he was surprised when Kompany was appointed, but believes the former Manchester City captain will bring success back to Bayern.
Kane and Kompany were rivals on the Premier League stage, while the pair faced one another when Belgium defeated England 2-0 in the third place play-off match at the 2018 World Cup in St Petersburg.
“I know him from when he played for Hamburg, he knows the Bundesliga, he speaks the language,” Matthaus said on Kompany’s appointment.
“To be coach at Bayern Munich you have to understand the mentality.
“The new coach is talking with the players, he is hugging the players, talking clearly with them about what he expects.
“The atmosphere is much better and I think that atmosphere, as you saw it last year in Leverkusen, can make the difference.”
Who does Matthaus think will win the Bundesliga this season?
“Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich are the favourites for me,” he said.
“I see them both at the same level but I have this feeling that Bayern Munich will win.”
–BBCSport
A.I
Aug. 25, 2024
Tags: Harry Kane Lothar Matthaus.
