Bayern Munich shield Vincent Kompany from work pressures during hospital stay

Bayern Munich have instructed visitors to Vincent Kompany’s hospital bedside not to discuss football with the manager as he undergoes medical tests after suffering a health collapse.

The club want the Belgian to focus entirely on recovering from the illness which led to his hospitalisation on Friday, amid concern over the physical strain he has carried in recent weeks.

It remains unclear whether Kompany will be fit to attend Bayern’s match against Freiburg in the seventh round of the Bundesliga. However, club officials have made clear that he must stay away from his daily responsibilities for now.

According to Spox, citing German newspaper Bild and a veteran Bayern reporter, conversations with Kompany should be limited to personal matters rather than football, tactics or team affairs.

Honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeness visited Kompany on Saturday and brought him a bag of groceries from Munich delicatessen Kafer. Assistant manager Aaron Danks said his own telephone conversation with Kompany had also been restricted to personal matters.

Danks has taken charge from the technical area during Kompany’s absence and is expected to continue doing so until further notice. He previously replaced the manager at the news conference before the match against Arsenal.

Concerns over Kompany’s workload

Reports in Germany suggest worries about Kompany’s working habits had emerged before his collapse. Bild reported that the 39-year-old had been spending extremely long hours at work, drinking large amounts of coffee, taking too little exercise and carrying numerous responsibilities at once.

He had also continued working while suffering from a virus. Kompany was involved in preparations for the recent matches against Viking and Arsenal in the Champions League, as well as the Bundesliga fixture with RB Leipzig.

Danks said before the Arsenal match on Tuesday: “It is not really easy to get Vincent to rest.”

After that game, Kompany admitted he had not taken his illness seriously enough.

“As a coach, I always want to do everything I can. I had a serious virus and, naturally, I did not listen to my body,” he said. “At one point my body said to me: ‘Enough, my friend!’ But I feel better now, otherwise I would not have been here.”

Two days later, he collapsed and was taken to hospital for extensive medical examinations.

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said Kompany could be absent for weeks, while stressing that the manager was “a wonderful person, an incredible worker, and he will overcome this phase too”.

Eberl added: “That spirit has been lost to some extent in our society, but there are still people who say: ‘I want to do things, and I want to make a difference.’”

Kompany’s father, Pierre, told Der Spiegel that his son could spend up to 14 hours a day at Bayern’s training ground. He told Bild that Kompany sometimes worked for as many as 18 hours, leaving little time to see his three children during the week.

That determination has been evident throughout Kompany’s playing and coaching career, but reports have linked it to his migrant family background and belief that success requires twice the effort. Bayern’s current priority, however, is to ensure he has enough time to recover and returns only when his health allows.