Six episodes in - let’s bring some Centre Backs into the equation shall we? So far we have had legends from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ireland and France, and today we profile an iconic figure from yet another nation of footballing excellence as we head to Belgium in our quest to find notable footballing royalty and identify a candidate worthy of being dubbed as their modern day counterpart and one to watch for the near future.
The rules are simple - any modern day replica identified must be of the same nationality as the legend at hand, and must be aged 23 or under in order to qualify and earn the mantle as the next big thing. Considering Vincent Kompany was just 22 years old when he moved to Man City in 2008, these most certainly are not small boots to fill. Let’s do this.
by @adam_otbfm
“He is one of a small number of players who are universally liked and respected. He transcends football rivalry.” Gary Lineker
Vincent Kompany is arguably the player most synonymous with the Sheikh Mansour era at Manchester City, despite the fact he actually preceded the current ownership by a full 10 days! Kompany joined Manchester City in 2008 as a very talented, but injury prone youngster who saw himself as a budding midfielder; by the time he left the club in 2019 he was one of the greatest central defenders the Premier League has ever seen. He was Captain Fantastic.
Throughout his career, Vincent won 6 league titles (2 in Belgium, 4 in England), 2 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Community Shields, as well as a host of individual awards. He also captained Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, and helped them to a third place finish in 2018 on the way to winning 89 caps.
His most iconic individual moment came towards the end of his illustrious City career. On the 6th May 2019, Manchester City hosted Leicester City, knowing that they had to win to keep their advantage in the title race going into the final day of the season. After 70 nervous minutes the scores were still level, when Aymeric Laporte played a simple pass to his defensive colleague, who drifted forward, perusing his options, before unleashing a rocket from 25 yards that flew into the top corner. Kompany hadn’t hit a shot on target from outside the area in 6 years, but when his side needed a moment of magic, he stepped up and delivered - even if his team-mates and manager doubted him.
Ironically it was left to a Manchester United legend, Gary Neville, to sum up the magnitude of the moment.
"Never in my life Vincent Kompany, he thought about hitting it the first time. He ignores it, he goes a bit further forward. Wow. Where do you want your statue Vincent Kompany?”
Kompany was an excellent example of the modern Ball-Playing Defender. Football Manager gives the following explanation to the role: ‘The main job of the Ball-Playing Defender is to stop the opposing attackers from playing and to clear the ball from danger when required. However, unlike standard central defenders, the Ball-Playing Defender is encouraged to launch defence splitting through balls from deep to generate counter-attacking opportunities.’
Before we can identify Kompany’s heir apparent, we need to take a step back in time, and find out exactly what made him so special in his prime.
Rewind ⏪
We’re back in 2014, where Vincent Kompany has just come back from captaining his nation at the World Cup, having been named in the latest Premier League Team of the Year after guiding Manchester City to their second title in three years.
At 28 Kompany was not only in his prime years but also one of the finest central defenders on the planet. At 6’3” he was a physically imposing, aerially dominant defender; but was also quick, good with the ball at his feet and read the game excellently. Truly a great all-rounder. What really set Kompany apart though, was his bravery and determination to do whatever it took for his side to succeed, he led by example and that’s why he’s in the discussion whenever the Premier League’s greatest captains are discussed. With that in mind, we take to Football Manager 2021 using Kompany’s key strengths to find his modern day replica and hopefully again stamp the #WeStreamFM seal of approval in our Dubbed the Next series.
🔍 Heading
🔍 Tackling
🔍 Passing
🔍 Anticipation
🔍 Bravery
🔍 Determination
🔍 Leadership
🔍 Positioning
🔍 Strength
🔍 Belgian
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To anybody who has had a save in the top 5 leagues in the last couple of editions of Football Manager, seeing Zinho Vanheusden top this list may not come as a surprise. He is not only the closest Belgium have to a new Vincent Kompany, but he’s also one of the finest prospects across the entire nation. He lacks slightly in aggression, understandable at just 20, but excels in every other area with fantastic defensive ability; strong mentals in Positioning, Anticipation and Bravery; and is 6’2” with great strength. He actually exceeds Kompany’s ball playing ability, with 15s in Passing and Flair plus 12 for Vision, and although at 20 he may be a bit too young to captain a side right now, he is surely a future captain with 14 Leadership - maybe even for Belgium?
There were some other strong options when it came to finding the new Vincent Kompany. Marco Kana is a great prospect at just 17 and already has many of the attributes that Vincent possessed, however, at just 5’10” and with an 8 for strength, he isn’t likely to dominate in the air and is potentially better suited to a defensive midfield role. Sébastiaan Bornauw is a player who most definitely will dominate in the air, and is an excellent prospect, but doesn’t quite use the ball as effectively as Kompany or Vanheusden. Beyond them, we have Wout Faes and Elias Cobbaut who offer a couple more interesting options. Faes is very good in the air and on the ball, but isn’t quite as brave and lacks a bit of recovery pace which sees him fall just short. Cobbaut is slightly weaker mentally than the others on the list, with his lower levels of anticipation a particular weakness. His main strengths come in a slightly different area to Kompany’s, with his exceptional fitness, stamina and work rate making him a potentially great full-back.
Zinho Vanheusden already has all the attributes of an excellent ball-playing defender and still has plenty of time to grow into a star. Therefore, he gets the #WeStreamFM seal of approval and is officially dubbed the “next” Vincent Kompany. Watch this space - he will surely close it down.
Thanks once again to MaddFM and WeStreamFM for having me back on to contribute to the series for a second time, and thank you for reading!
Adam.
Enjoyed this? Make sure to check out Adam’s wide variety of quality FM content on his own blog here.
Interested in writing a Guest Author piece for WeStreamFM or have a football icon you would like to try and replicate? Drop us a DM or feel free to reach out to @MaddFM directly.
