Liverpool vs Manchester City, League Cup final: Vincent Kompany can still remember the gloom before the glory

'When I came to City, the final that all the fans talked about was the Wembley game against Gillingham'

Manchester City's Vincent Kompany (left) in action against Dynamo Kiev (Reuters)

All clubs and national teams have players who carry their deep memories. In the great Australia cricket sides that rampaged through the 1990s, it was Steve Waugh, who alone knew what it was like to be humbled in an Ashes series. Roy Keane’s rage stemmed from a knowledge of what Manchester United had been at the turn of the millennium and how deep the club had slumped before his exit.

At Manchester City it is Vincent Kompany. He arrived before the Abu Dhabi money, in the days when the League Cup was looked back on longingly and forlornly as the last trophy the club had won and when Wembley meant a play-off match with Gillingham.

“Globally, it is obvious people only see the Manchester City of the last six or seven years,” he said while preparing for this afternoon’s Capital One Cup final against Liverpool. “They see us as a new club. They mistake trophies for history. Our fans, the people of Manchester, know this club has an unbelievably rich history and it isn’t just winning trophies that makes you a great club. This is a great period for Manchester City but this is a club that will never forget where it has been. Our fans have been through things that supporters of other clubs would only have nightmares about.

“When I came to City, the final that all the fans talked about was the Wembley game against Gillingham. Winning a second division play-off was the biggest thing that many of our fans had seen.

“Myself, Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart were there when the rebirth of Manchester City began. No matter what happens in the future, it will all have been built on the platform we left behind. Last season, when we didn’t win anything, hurt a lot and you want to hurt. If it hurts, you know you are doing something good. If it doesn’t hurt, something is rotten.

“But I also think the next Manchester City captain will overshadow everything I have done or will do because this club is going to achieve some seriously great things. We will be remembered as the team that brought success back to Manchester City.” Kompany will be 30 in April, and recently there have been too many injuries to be confident about his future. The low point came against Sunderland on Boxing Day when, after six weeks out, his comeback lasted nine minutes before his calf muscles gave way once more.

“I am in good shape now and I feel great,” he said. “But the hardest thing in football is to come back after an injury and play at your highest level. 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.” Kompany remains the key to Manchester City’s defence. Aside from the 2-1 loss to Tottenham, all City’s defeats this season have been in his absence.

The sight of him and Nicolas Otamendi dealing with Andriy Yarmolenko in the victory over Dynamo Kiev that put the club within touching distance of a first European Cup quarter-final, gave a hint that the defensive flakiness that has dogged Manchester City in recent seasons could be cured.

“Let’s not make too much of the win in Kiev,” he said. “We need more performances like that before we can talk about being at our best.” And City have in recent seasons seldom been at their best against today’s Captial One Cup final opponents Liverpool – or indeed any big team.

They have not overcome any of the top six this season but the 4-1 humbling by Jürgen Klopp’s side at the Etihad Stadium was perhaps the most complete defeat City have suffered in the Abu Dhabi era.

“Every time we play Liverpool we always see the best Liverpool has, I really believe that,” said Kompany. “Everything seems to come together for Liverpool when they play us. But when you go to Wembley you want to play a 50:50 game against a team like Liverpool. I will always remember losing the FA Cup final to Wigan when we were expected to win and it was a big shock. This takes away the risk that we think it will be an easy game.”