FM24 Kompany Bayern tactic - how to dismantle low blocks
When Vincent Kompany was appointed as Bayern Munich’s new Head Coach, replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel, in 2024, fans and pundits alike questioned the appointment following Kompany’s time at Burnley in the Premier League, where the Clarets succumbed to relegation - a fate largely due to, in the end, Kompany’s reluctance to divert away from his possession-based style of play.
The media’s perception, among many fans and neutrals alike, was that Bayern would be a ‘boring’ team to watch, considering Kompany is a clear disciple of Pep Guardiola - however, just over 12 months later and Bayern Munich are one of the most entertaining teams to watch in all of Europe, scoring bucket loads of goals and dominating territory in almost every game. They look unstoppable right now.
In this article, I’ll be providing my brief analysis of what makes Bayern so imperious, before demonstrating my recreation of their tactics in FM24, and finally showcasing the results said tactics achieved in testing. Firstly, let’s discuss the core principles of this incredible system.
Unique Full-Back and ‘Front Two’ Roles
Bayern’s full-backs and ‘front two’ are the team’s greatest tactical innovations and Swiss Army knifes, as the full-backs can roam anywhere and everywhere on their respective sides of the pitch to create overloads, pin opposition players, or even make runs in-behind - the ‘front two’, on the other hand, also have licence to roam wherever they please to create overloads and supplement the team’s build-up play.
Initially, from build-up, the full-backs will take a higher and inverted position to try and pin the opposition back; Often, this movement can lead to Bayern’s centre-backs having acres of space to carry into, as displayed in the example below:
In the progression and final third phases, the full-backs are, again, given licence to move forward and roam around, often attacking the half-spaces, as shown below:
The full-backs aren’t the only players given complete licence to roam, however. Both the ‘10’ and striker in this system, Kane and Gnabry this season, can quite literally move anywhere they would like - sometimes, you could find one or both in line with the double-pivot, they can move that deep!
To allow for this to occur, the roaming full-backs can actually temporarily swap positions with them. Additionally, the pair can situationally move wider to form wide overloads - an example of both scenarios can be seen below:
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2-2-4/2-2-6 In-Possession Shape
When Bayern reach the final third, they want to pin opposition teams into their own half, and their strategy for doing this may, at first, seem overkill, however, there is method in the madness.
Bayern’s in-possession shape, when in the final third, will transform into a very flexible 2-4-4/2-2-6 shape. From here, Bayern create ideal conditions for overloads, link-up/relationist approaches, and the counter-press - the latter being due to the incredibly short distances between players, closing the distance they’d need to cover to enact such an aggressive counter-press.
Additionally, this shape accommodates more and more width the higher Bayern progress up the pitch, eventually stretching the opposition’s defence and, thus, opening the half-spaces.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession:
When Bayern have the ball, they initiate their possession dominance from build-up, using shorter passes at varying tempos depending on the situation. Once they have progressed from the build-up phase, Bayern can often look to inject a bit of pace into their possession by attacking any space left in-behind the opposition’s defence.
Once they reach the final third, Bayern are patient in their attacking exploits, as they look to work the ball into the box. Lastly, when they have the ball, Bayern often look to penetrate centrally and they also allow their players a lot of freedom in their movement.
In Transition:
When Bayern lose the ball, they immediately counter-press to try and regain possession or, at the very least, prevent the opposition from counter-attacking themselves. Should they win back possession, they let the situation/game-state determine whether they counter-attack themselves or not.
Finally, from goal-kicks, Neuer will regularly waste as little time as possible to initiate attacks, usually distributing short to the centre-backs.
Out of Possession:
When Bayern don’t have possession, they press incessantly - usually in a man-to-man fashion, especially from opposition goal-kicks. To supplement their high press, Kompany wants his defensive line as high as possible to close the space for the opposition.
Opposition Instructions
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Player Roles
Sweeper Keeper - Attack:
In this system, Neuer is omni-present both in-possession and out. When Bayern have possession, Neuer will move very high to join the centre-backs to form a back-three. When Bayern don’t have the ball, Neuer holds a very high position and is very proactive in sweeping and cross-claiming. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.
Full-Back - Attack:
Both full-backs in this system, as aforementioned, are given complete license to roam wherever they want - however, there is a slight difference in the right-back’s movement and the left-back’s movement. On the left, Stanišić’s movement is very centralised, whereas Laimer’s movement, on the right-side, varies depending on Olise’s positioning. If Olise holds the width, Laimer will invert and vice versa.
When both full-backs receive the ball, they will often carry before trying to set up a teammate with a through ball, or they can reach the byline and provide a cut-back. Therefore, I felt this role was best-suited, with the added instructions:
(DCR) Ball-Playing Defender - Defend:
In this position, Upamecano will usually hold a much wider position in build-up, creating space for either Neuer or a midfielder to drop in alongside the centre-backs. When he receives the ball, he will often carry forwards, especially when space has been created to do so. Furthermore, when Bayern have possession higher up the pitch, both centre-backs will regularly penetrate the opposition with progressive passes. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
(DCL) Ball-Playing Defender - Defend:
In this position, Tah doesn’t carry forward as much as Upamecano, nor does he move wider as often. However, akin to his defensive counterpart, he will regularly look to penetrate the opposition with progressive passes. Therefore, I felt this role was also perfect - no added instructions.
Inverted Wing-Back - Attack:
In this position, Stanišić is, much like Laimer, given complete licence to roam wherever he wants. However, unlike his counterpart, Stanišić’s movements are not as reliant on the winger’s positioning on his side. Therefore, I felt this role was most ideal, with the added instruction:
Deep Lying Playmaker - Support:
In this system, Kimmich is the epitome of a ‘Deep Lying Playmaker’, able to drop towards the ball, between the centre-backs, or situationally move higher. When Bayern don’t have the ball, both players in the double-pivot will mark whoever is nearest to them tightly. Therefore, I felt this role was simply too quintessential to deny, with the added instruction:
Defensive Midfielder - Support:
On the other side of the double-pivot, Goretzka is primarily asked to hold his position. A key nuance in his role, however, is the ability for him to drop deeper and wider alongside the centre-backs to situationally create a 3-1 rest defence/build-up base. Like with Kimmich, Goretzka is asked to tightly mark whoever is closest to him. Therefore, I felt this role was most ideal, with the added instructions:
Advanced Playmaker - Support:
Both the ‘10’ and the striker in this system can be considered as the team’s primary advanced playmakers, due to their respective tendencies to drop deeper and naturally come towards the ball. In this position, Gnabry can roam from his position and situationally drift wider, as aforementioned.
Furthermore, when he receives the ball, Gnabry can carry forward to help Bayern progress up the pitch. Finally, when Bayern don’t have the ball, Gnabry and Kane form an aggressive front two, who will constantly harry the opposition’s centre-backs. Therefore, I felt this role best resembled Gnabry’s role in-real-life, with the added instructions:
(AMR & AML) Inside Forward - Support:
The wingers are vital to making this system work, as they predominantly hold the team’s width - from here, they can often make runs in-behind or drop slightly deeper to receive the ball short from a centre-back, creating space for the roaming full-backs to penetrate.
Whilst the pair initially hold the width, they can roam and drift inside, often causing chaos in more central areas. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions for the pair:
Complete Forward - Support:
Kane’s role in the system epitomises a ‘complete forward’, as he’s able to drop deeper, run the channels, make runs in-behind (although, more rarely), and occupy the penalty area when Bayern have progressed that high up the pitch. However, he definitely drops deeper more often than not, thus prompting the ‘Support’ duty, rather than the ‘Attack’ duty.
When he receives the ball deeper, Kane will go direct a lot of the time, utilizing his incredible passing range, or will even take a pop from range.
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Results
Bundesliga:
We absolutely tore the Bundeliga to smithereens, winning 32 of our 34 league games, whilst drawing one game and losing one game of the other two league games - winning the league by a staggering 33 points!!!
In our 34 league games, we scored 132 goals (3.88 goals per game) and conceded just 10 goals (0.29 goals per game), amassing an astonishing +122 goal difference. Our 61% average possession, fewest shots against, and pitch tilt statistics highlight our pure dominance.
Domestic Cups:
We began the season as we meant to go on, beating VfB Stuttgart 6-0 in the DFL-SuperCup. We followed that success by winning the DFB-Pokal, beating Hertha Berlin 6-1 in the final. On our way to the final, we dispatched the likes of VfB Stuttgart (4-0), 1. FC Nürnberg (3-0), and Fortuna Düsseldorf (0-2).
UEFA Champions League:
We completed a historic quadruple-winning season, by beating Real Madrid 0-1 in the Champions League Final! On our way to paradise, we beat Arsenal (2-3 AGG), Liverpool (1-3 AGG), and Athletic Club (1-0 AGG), after successfully navigating a group containing Tottenham Hotspur, PSV, and Dynamo Kyiv.
Conclusion
Vincent Kompany’s Bayern have probably, at least from an entertainment point of view, exceeded expectations thus far, and the result is one of, if not, the most exciting teams in all of Europe, and there’s absolutely no reason why they can’t dominate every competition much like PSG did in 24/25.
Shots, possession, field dominance, xG, duel-winning, counter-pressing, counter-attacking - they are experts in every field, and they could be on the verge of a historic season. If you want a taste of this extraordinary tactic, make sure to download the tactics using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves!
