Omar A. Rodriguez

🚨 Harry Kane on Vincent Kompany following his hospitalisation: “When Vin first arrived at Bayern, one of the things that surprised me was how much he wanted to know about what I was seeing on the pitch. After training he’d call me over and ask, ‘Harry, when the centre-back follows you, what do you want the winger to do?’ I’d explain it, and he’d say, ‘Good. Now tell me what happens if the other centre-back doesn’t follow.’ Sometimes you’d answer one question and end up having a 20 minute conversation. I remember once we finished a session and I told him, ‘Boss, I think we’ve covered everything.’ He said, ‘We haven’t played the game yet.’ That’s Vincent. There was another day he stopped a finishing drill because he wasn’t happy with the pass before the shot. I told him, ‘But I scored.’ He said, ‘I know you scored, Harry. I’m trying to make sure you score when the defender does his job properly.’ And he was right. That’s the frustrating thing about him. You’d go home thinking about something he said and realise he had a point. But the boys started noticing that he wasn’t switching off. You’d arrive in the morning and he’d already watched clips from the previous session. You’d leave in the afternoon and he’d be asking about a young player training with the second team. One day I asked him, ‘Do you actually have a day when you don’t watch football?’ He laughed and said, ‘I watch less on Sundays.’ I asked, ‘How much less?’ He said, ‘Depends who’s playing.’ When we heard what had happened at the training ground, football suddenly became the last thing any of us wanted to discuss. I kept thinking about all those little conversations. The man who’d ask whether I’d made the right run, whether I’d noticed a defender’s shoulder position, whether we’d pressed five metres too late. And now all we wanted was to hear that he was okay. Someone asked me what it felt like to win the Ballon d’or. It’s difficult to explain. Bayern hadn’t had a winner since Rummenigge in 1981. 45 years. And to be the player who brings that award back to this club is something I’ll carry with me forever. But I also know whose fingerprints are on it. Vincent never made me feel like I had to become a different striker. He made me notice things I hadn’t noticed before. He challenged me on days when I’d scored twice because he thought I could have helped the team more. And when I was frustrated, he’d sit down and explain exactly what he was trying to achieve. That’s why I wish he could have been there for that moment. I can imagine him watching the ceremony and thinking about our next opponent before I’d even finished my speech. When he’s ready, I want to put the trophy in front of him and tell him, ‘Boss, this one belongs to you a little bit as well.’ And knowing Vincent, he’ll probably say, ‘Thank you, Harry. Now, about that chance you missed last weekend…’ But seriously, I hope he understands something. He’s spent so long telling us that no individual is bigger than the team. Well, right now the team is telling him the same thing. We can manage a few training sessions without him. We can watch the clips ourselves. We can even get a few things wrong. What we can’t do is replace him. So I don’t want him thinking about Bayern’s next match, or who needs to press higher, or whether I’ve made enough runs into the box. I just want him to get well. The football will still be here when he comes back.”