INTERVIEW: Kompany believes the sky’s the limit at City

Alam Khan - Reporter 20:30 27/02/2016
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  • A big Vin: Kompany is confident of adding to his growing trophy haul.

    Vincent Kompany has been hurting this season.

    The scars of the previous campaign, where Manchester City failed to win a major trophy, were still fresh as the captain’s pain was compounded by injuries that have restricted him to just 12 starts.

    But Kompany remains defiant and driven as he bids to lead his team to glory in today’s League Cup final against Liverpool.

    “I play for a club that has big expectations and one of those expectations is for me to immediately start putting in performances that are worthy of this team,” says the Belgian, who has been plagued by calf problems.

    “I haven’t been eased back in. I have played in some very big games in the last two weeks and this is another huge occasion on Sunday.

    “I am fit and focused. My whole life at the moment is about forgetting what has gone before and making sure that this ends up being a successful season for the club. Setbacks are a part of life and I like to think that my nature means I can rise to any challenge.”

    It is the same for the club too. While their standing globally has grown, so have expectations since they claimed the FA Cup in 2011, ending a 35-year trophy wait since a League Cup win in 1976.

    And Kompany adds: “Last season hurt a lot – and that’s a good thing. This is a club that wants to get into the habit of winning trophies every single year and when that doesn’t happen, you want to feel a big sense of disappointment.

    “You want it to hurt. If it hurts, you know you are doing something good. If it doesn’t hurt, then something is rotten.

    “When I came to City, the game that all the fans talked about was the Wembley game against Gillingham (in 1999). Winning a Second Division play-off was the biggest thing that many of our fans had seen. I’m not dismissing how important that game was, because it is a big part of who we are and where we have come from.

    “But, in the last few years, City fans have lived their dreams. They are now supporting a club that wants to win trophies every single year and are disappointed when it doesn’t happen. That’s a good environment to be in.”

    City fans often chant ‘We’re Not Really Here’ and that also reflects their amazing transformation since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought them in 2008. Previously invisible, now among Europe’s leading lights.

    Kompany joined shortly before the Abu Dhabi takeover. Only Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta have been there as long.

    “This is a great period, but this is a club that will never forget where it has been,” he adds, recalling his knowledge of that penalty shoot-out win over Gillingham.

    “It is easy to talk about the good times, but it is the bad times that make you strong – and our fans have been through things that supporters of other clubs would only have nightmares about.

    “When I came here, I wanted to learn about our history. The players we have now will always be remembered for the things we have won, but what is just as important is to remember what others have also done for the club.

    “People like Paul Dickov and the Goat (Shaun Goater) are an important part of our history. You go back a few more years and you get to Mike Summerbee, Tony Book and Colin Bell. Our success doesn’t put those guys in the shadows. If anything it gives them an even more prominent place.

    “Globally, it is obvious that people only see the Manchester City of the last six or seven years. They mistakenly see us as a new club. Those people mistake trophies for history. Our fans, the people of Manchester, know that our club has an unbelievably rich history.

    “Winning trophies is an absolute must for us now, of course, because of the investment that has been made. But Manchester City isn’t a new club. It’s an old club, with a lot of history, a club that has had a lot of ups and downs.

    “That’s why I love City and why I love being the captain. I don’t need other people to tell me what Manchester City means because I feel a part of it.”

    Having lifted the Premier League twice, and gained FA Cup and League Cup honours, Kompany is the club’s most successful captain alongside Tony Book, but is he the greatest ever?

    “Look, not yet,” he says.

    “I am far too ambitious to stop now. I want to win more. I also think that the next City captain will overshadow everything I’ve done or will do because this club is going to achieve seriously great things. What I think this team will be remembered as is the team that brought success back to Manchester City.

    “Myself, Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart were there when the rebirth of Manchester City began. No matter what comes in the future, it will all have been built on the platform that we left behind.

    “When a player signed for United or Liverpool they would talk about how much they loved the club when they were a kid.

    “In recent years, when a player joined Manchester City, it was claimed he had signed for different reasons. Maybe that was the case, but I think that is changing and will change even more quickly in the coming years.

    “I talk to the kids at the Academy, and so many of them are local Mancunian lads who are City fans and want to be here for emotional reasons. It’s always more satisfying to be a part of a club when you feel you are playing for something you love, rather than being there just because it’s your job.”

    Kompany was among those rested for the 5-1 FA Cup fifth-round loss at Chelsea last weekend, but a full-strength City responded with a 3-1 midweek win at Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

    But, having witnessed inconsistent performances that have dented their league title hopes, the skipper warns: “Let’s not make too much out of the win in Kiev.

    “Yes, we were very good and it was a huge result for the club, but we need to put a few more performances like that in a row before we can make statements about being at our best. For us, it was a fantastic standard that we would like to reproduce at Wembley and for the rest of the season.”

    Wembley, though, can be a lonely place for any losing side as City found out when Wigan upset them in the 2013 FA Cup final. Liverpool have also triumphed in their last two league meetings, including a crushing 4-1 win at the Etihad in November.

    But Kompany says: “I don’t live to lose. Losing isn’t even at the back of my mind because I don’t allow negative thoughts.

    “Of course, the reality is often very different. But that Wigan defeat was a great example to us that there are no easy games at Wembley.

    “I think that playing a big name actually helps us. If anything, a lot of people will be backing Liverpool to win the cup based on the game at the Etihad this season. Every time we play Liverpool we always see the best that Liverpool have. We have to rise to the challenge.”

    Victory would also provide boss Manuel Pellegrini with a trophy he craves before he makes way for Pep Guardiola in the summer.

    “Winning a trophy would be good for Manuel, it would be good for the players, and it would be good for the club,” says Kompany. “We all want to leave a legacy.”

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