Vincent Kompany dodges Goretzka question after Bayern Munich friendly win over Tottenham

Bayern Munich shook off any lingering frustration left from their lackluster 1-1 friendly draw against FC Düren with their 2-1 friendly win over Tottenham Hotspur in Seoul, South Korea.

The Rekordmeister is in the region as a part of their Audi Summer Tour and goals from Gabriel Vidović and Leon Goretzka provided the necessary cushion for Vincent Kompany’s side to register a win, seeing that Pedro Porro’s wonder strike in the 66th minute was nothing more than a mere consolation for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

As expected since this was Bayern’s toughest friendly test yet, Kompany fielded a fully senior starting eleven bar Vidovic and most of the subs he used in the match were also veteran, first-team players. New signing Nestory Irankunda, Adam Aznou, Adin Ličina, and Noël Aséko Nkili were the only non-senior players used off of the bench.

Goretzka was one of a handful of entrants to the match for the start of the second half and he put forth a commanding performance at the heart of Bayern’s midfield alongside new signing João Palhinha. His performance was capped off with his winning goal in the 56th minute after a lovely bit of interplay with Mathys Tel after Bayern had done well to win possession off of Tottenham right around midfield from a bit of heavy pressing.

Ironically enough, it is Palhinha’s presence in the squad that could possibly take away minutes from Goretzka this season as he will have to be competing for time with the former Fulham FC man, Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlović, and Konrad Laimer. There have been suggestions and rumors in the media during the summer transfer window thus far speculating that Goretzka could leave Bayern this summer, but as things stand, the player himself is ready to stay in Munich and fight for his place in Kompany’s plans.

After the win over Tottenham, Kompany was directly asked about Goretzka’s performance and what his role in the team will be for the upcoming season. Rather than answering the question directly, the Belgian manager chose to talk about the whole squad, instead. “At this moment in time, every player who is part of this club is here for a reason. We have a lot of good players. But the most important thing for me today was to feel that the entire squad was prepared to be hurt a little bit because the weather was warm and the pitch wasn’t the best. Every player in their position did the best they could do

While we have seen a handful of different looks from Bayern’s three friendlies thus far under Kompany, the Tottenham friendly perhaps offered the closest look to what his preferred starting lineup might be come week one in the Bundesliga against VfL Wolfsburg bar the presence of Harry Kane. The England skipper is not yet back with the squad, nor is Kingsley Coman or Dayot Upamecano and Leroy Sané is still recovering from a pubic bone injury and subsequent groin surgery.