'But don't tell Harry that' - Vincent Kompany reveals why he gives Kane so much freedom at Bayern Munich

Christian Streich, long-time coach of SC Freiburg and on duty as a TV expert for Sky at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, asked Kompany about the special role Kane plays at Bayern under the Belgian. The striker is known to often drop back into midfield, where he shines with his playmaking qualities and, time and again, with his defensive tackles.

Since Kane did not play this way in the past and focused more on his role as a finisher, Streich asked, "How did you come up with this idea?" Kompany replied that he deliberately gives Kane freedom in this regard: "I always try to take my players' profiles into account. Harry is incredibly smart. Of course, he has his specific role when it comes to defending. But when we have possession, it's 50 per cent coaching and 50 per cent simply trusting the player to do the right thing."

Kompany emphasised that his experiences from his time as a player, when he often faced former Tottenham striker Kane with Manchester City, also played a role in tweaking his position. "I used to be a defender and often played against Harry – but I never saw these qualities because he was always on the highest line. And that was actually quite easy for me to defend against – but don't tell Harry that," Kompany laughed.

Now, however, it is "very difficult" for opposing defenders when Kane plays so variably and sometimes stays in the centre of the attack, "but sometimes moves a little out of this zone," according to Kompany. It is also very important that the England captain has the necessary running ability and is therefore "always in the right place". Kompany went on to add: "The only thing I demand of him offensively is: when we have a chance to score, where are you? And if he's up front, that's enough for me."

Kane was once again the decisive player on Saturday with two goals. With these two goals, the 32-year-old has already improved on his tally from last season and continues to chase the Bundesliga record set by former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski scored 41 goals in the German top flight in 2020-21, while Kane now has 28 goals after 23 matchdays. If he maintains his rate of 1.22 goals per game in the remaining eleven league games, Kane would have a good chance of snatching the record from Lewandowski. He would then mathematically finish the season with 41.4 Bundesliga goals.

Kompany also rued his team's missed chances after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2. Two late goals made for a nervy finish to the game, but Kompany felt his team should have been out of sight by then. He told reporters: "We felt we were too relaxed, we missed a lot of chances. It was a really dominant display until the third goal. It was a typical ‘forward in the box foul’ in Harry’s case [when Frankfurt were awarded a penalty, ed.]. We gifted them the second goal. Frankfurt pushed towards the end. That’s football, we have the three points and that’s good. We have a normal week, which is a luxury for us, so I want us to go full throttle from the first to the last minute. We took ourselves out of the game to some extent. Frankfurt did a really good job towards the end, but we were very dominant for large spells and did a lot of things right. We must learn from it and are in a perfect position for the next game. It might be the most difficult one, we’re fired up for it, we want to go there. It’s perfect for us. They think they can take something against us. We believe the same. It’s a top match."

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