Kompany cannot be blamed for how his team-mates - usually expensive - perform in his absence. But he is not completely blameless.
"We must improve because we are conceding too many goals." That was Manuel Pellegrini's simple assessment following his side's fifth defeat of the campaign, against Arsenal on Monday night.
"We hope that Vincent will return soon. If we have Vincent, David [Silva] and Sergio [Aguero] playing normally every week then I suppose that we are going to continue being an important team for the fight for the title."
That statement says a lot in itself. Those three men were signed in 2007, 2010 and 2011, respectively. They have become the cornerstone of City's recent successes, and even other important figures, such as Joe Hart and Yaya Toure, were signed over five years ago.
City have proven unable to adequately recruit capable replacements for those men in recent years, and the time is coming to plan for life without Kompany. The Belgian will no doubt return to the line-up at some stage and prove his worth, but it only serves to highlight his team-mates' struggles in his absence.
The stats are well known by now, such have been City's performances in recent weeks. The Blues have conceded 18 goals in nine Premier League games without their skipper. In the eight matches he has played, they have conceded just once.
Pellegrini's men looked invincible at the start of the season, winning the first five games and conceding no goals. As soon as Kompany's troublesome calf flared up again, they lost two league matches on the bounce and even against Newcastle, when Aguero scored five after half-time, the defence were a shambles before the break.
Kompany returned against Manchester United at Old Trafford and City looked rock solid once again. It really is as simple as that. Granted, they were up against Louis van Gaal's stale brand of football, but it is no coincidence that Nicolas Otamendi had his best game of the season alongside the captain.
City were solid again - that Hart clanger against Norwich aside - but injury struck once more and it has been a different story since. The Blues have lost three of their last five games and, the victory against Southampton aside, they have been poor at the back.
The Blues have spent many millions of pounds trying to replace him and it cannot be Kompany's fault that Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi, at a c combined cost of over £70m, do not seem able to play together, or that Martin Demichelis is in the squad while Jason Denayer is out on loan.
But there has been a feeling around the club that Kompany's full blooded approach has cost him game time,
Pellegrini very rarely shows his irritation before the press, but he could not hide his feelings during Kompany's first injury lay-off of the season. The Chilean had made it clear that his captain simply could not play for Belgium, despite his call-up for their October fixtures. But play he did, and in a dead rubber against Israel.
City fans breathed a sigh of relief after he came through unscathed, and many thought that an hour of fairly routine international football would do his recovery the world of good. Not Pellegrini.
"I was not pleased because we sent Vincent with a medical report that he was not able to play but as the manager of Belgium says, he can do what he wants," the manager said. This was tantamount to an outburst from the cool Chilean.
“I think that for Vincent after one month without playing it was important to work for at least one week completely at high intensity before he plays.
“He couldn’t do it because he played for Belgium, so he had to recover here Wednesday and Thursday. We will see in the future when he can return to his position.”
Kompany, sensing the mood upon his return to the City Football Academy, feared the chop. He was right; Pellegrini kept him on the bench for games against Bournemouth and Sevilla as it was suggested that the manager was punishing the player.
Pellegrini denied the claim but it appears his stance over the issue was spot on.
Kompany will feel he should not be chastised for representing his club and country with full committment, and indeed any team would be delighted to have such dedication, but with so many injuries totting up something will have to give in the coming months as City go for the title and Belgium focus on the European Championship.
“I play for my country and am proud to do it," Kompany said amid the furore. "There are no small games. I have given everything, always, for City. I will carry on doing this and the same for my country.”
He picked up his latest injury on international duty in November, has been out for over five weeks already and, despite constant "wait and see" updates from Pellegrini, does not appear close to a return.
City are no longer considered favourites for the title and now embark on a tricky run of fixtures, the majority of which are away from home, in the league and both domestic cups.
If the Blues cannot work out how to keep a clean sheet without Kompany, both club and player had better work out how to keep him fit. There's a lot riding on it.
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