"I didn't even look at it, I don't know what happened on the Internet, it completely passed me by. If something annoys me in the moment, I'll address it 100%. At that moment, I just thought he missed the stepover, but that was it. I won't start punishing my attacking players for trying stepovers," Kompany stated plainly, as captured by @iMiaSanMia."
"Many people come to the stadium precisely for those kinds of moves. Attackers can try a bit more than defenders, and I encourage them. If I see a sign of arrogance or disrespect towards opponents, I'll address it, but I didn't feel that was the case. They probably showed every goal he scored 250000 times on social media, so it goes both ways - we can't escape it."
A 17-year-old Bayern player, Lennart Karl, went viral after failing multiple stepovers and knocking the ball out during Bayern's 5-1 win against Hoffenheim. Vincent Kompany said he had not seen the clip, thought Karl simply missed the stepover and would not punish attacking players for attempting flair. Kompany said he encourages attackers to try moves, will only intervene for arrogance or disrespect, and noted social media amplifies both mistakes and successes. The piece concludes that not punishing a young player for creativity is likely the correct approach and points to Bavarian Podcast Works for more coverage.
Read at Bavarian Football Works
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