FC Bayern München Rottach-Egern Training Camp Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Getty Images It wasn’t a pretty game to watch. Vincent Kompany is making a poor early impressionIt is too early for a #KompanyOUT agenda, but Bayern Munich have been relatively poor in these first two preseason games, which does not give a good impression of the coach’s work thus far. On the one hand, it’s still preseason, and many of the first teamers are still on vacation. On the other, these last two games were played against an amateur (9th tier) and semi-pro (4th tier) side, and the games ended 14-1 and 1-1 respectively. More disappointing than the scorelines is the manner in which the team played. Versus Düren, Kompany opted for what is hopefully an experimental lineup — a flat 3-4-3 with Josip Stanišić, Kim Min-jae, and Hiroki Ito at center-back, Eric Dier at defensive midfield with Leon Goretzka next to him, Sacha Boey and Raphaël Guerreiro on the flanks, with Mathys Tel, Bryan Zaragoza, and Adin Ličina in attack. Here’s a short summary of what went wrong: Buildup play, supposedly a point of focus for the coaching team, was extremely limited. Vertical passing was even more laborious than in the Tuchel era, and the midfield duo of Goretzka and Dier were hopelessly inefficient even when faced against the midfield of a Regionalliga team. The back three was undercooked in the worst way. Whenever Bayern Munich had possession, it seemed that at least one of the center-backs didn’t know what to do. Eric Dier being the defensive midfield pivot rendered either Hiroki Ito or Kim Min-jae redundant during possession, forcing one of them (usually Ito, later Aznou) out wide or further up the pitch. It was an extremely messy way to implement a back three, and only slowed the team down as players got in each other’s way. The only avenue into the box was via crosses or corners. Mathys Tel received very little service, and whenever he did, he was already surrounded by Düren defenders who had plenty of time to get into position. The offensive gameplan was predictable and disappointingly blunt, reminiscent of the English stereotype of “hoof it into the box and hope we score”. Bayern Munich should do better. Certain individual performances let the team down. Kim Min-jae looked extremely shaky at the back, while Josip Stanišić made the key error (an overhit pass to Sven Ulreich) which led to the opponent’s goal. Sacha Boey and Bryan Zaragoza, the men tasked with providing width, were completely shut down by a Regionalliga defense, making it nigh impossible for Bayern to actually get behind FC Düren before changes were made in the second half. Of course, if some of the missing first teamers had played, some of the above problems would have disappeared. Guys like Thomas Müller, Michael Olise, and Joshua Kimmich could have made the mindless crossing gameplan work, especially if they had Harry Kane to aim for. Mazraoui or Kimmich replacing Boey on the right could have added dynamism to that flank. A better midfield duo could have greased the wheels in possession. However, that’s the approach that got Thomas Tuchel into trouble — he relied on his player’s quality to bail him out time and time again. Vincent Kompany will need better ideas if he wants to survive at this club. Thankfully, some changes at the 60th minute turned things around for the Bavarians. Nestory Irankunda might be another Davies-esque find 1. FC Düren v FC Bayern München - Pre-Season Friendly Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images Preseason performances don’t mean much, but Irankunda is one of the few players making a positive impression on this Bayern team so far. The Australian forward instantly changed the game once he came on, managing to win 1v1 duels that eluded Bryan Zaragoza for the preceding 60 minutes. He got behind the Düren defenders and was the first player to actually unsettle their low block, which allowed Bayern to gain some momentum and eventually score. Even with an experienced first-teamer like Serge…
FC Bayern München v Sport-Club Freiburg - Bundesliga Photo by Christina Pahnke - sampics/Getty Images Bayern Munich pulled out the victory! Die Folgen: Bayern’s 2-0 win over Freiburg (Bavarian Football Works)Everyone wants to be positive and feel good about Bayern Munich. It is only two games into the Bundesliga season and hope should spring eternal. However, the reality of how the two games have looked makes it seems like tinkering and over-thinking are BACK in Bavaria once more. Bayern Munich did outlast SC Freiburg 2-0, but it was neither aesthetic, nor fun. In fact, it was only a bit of luck with a handball and the impact of a certain veteran presence, who crawled out the grave once more to save the team, that stood between dropping points and a win. Let’s take a look at some quick hitters on the match: As always, let’s peek at the starting XI, which left a lot to be desired for several reasons: Here’s how we line up for #FCBSCF
! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9Ep0IpypuM— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) September 1, 2024The lineup was quite the head scratcher. Things just had trouble adding up. Depending on how you viewed Kimmich, this was either going to be some kind of funky back-three or maybe a 4-1-4-1. Either way, the omissions of Sacha Boey and João Palhinha was noticeable — as was the inclusion of Mathys Tel. The rumors of Musiala playing a little deeper appeared to be coming to fruition. Thomas Muller’s exclusion was not unexpected, but it will be harder to keep him out of the XI if he can string together good performances like he has thus far. The formation was listed as a 4-2-3-1 by one site, a 4-1-4-1 by another, but it did not function like a traditional version of either formation:The distribution of the players on the pitch. #FCBSCF pic.twitter.com/wpAwWiafER— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 1, 2024 At times, Raphaël Guerreiro would slide to look like a center-back. Other times, Dayot Upamecano pushed out to look like a right center-back in a back-three. Then, either Joshua Kimmich or Aleksandar Pavlović would drop into a central defender role. On defense, Jamal Musiala seemed to function as a central midfielder, but bumped up as an attacking midfielder when on offense. Everything was fluid and unpredictable for SC Freiburg — and Bayern Munich (unfortunately).The attack was not smooth or in sync at all early on. With so many roles quickly changing during play, it might have gone the Thomas the Train route — causing confusion and delay. There were some moments of excitement and brilliance, but on first instinct, it appeared that Vincent Kompany was overcomplicating things with his tactics.While dominant in the first half, Bayern Munich could not muster many great chances. In particular, Harry Kane seemed like he had some trouble getting involved in the attack.Bayern Munich was fortunate to get a handball call that Kane made SC Freiburg pay for. His penalty kick in the 38th minute put Bayern Munich up 1-0.Hopefully, Kompany does not fall victim to what help fell both Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel — trying to prove every second of every game that there were the smartest person in the stadium. One of the biggest criticisms of Nagelsmann was his persistent tinkering — early on, it seemed as if Kompany might have some of those tendencies. The most successful coaches of Bayern Munich’s modern era — Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick — were not tinkerers. Generally, those two were fairly consistent with assessing player performance, picking lineups, and keeping tactics simple. Does Bayern Munich’s brass get wooed too easily by the promise of what a coaching candidate pitches, rather than the reality of how it will play out on the pitch?It is far too early to be in #KompanyOut territory. To assert as much would be premature (to say the least). It has to start looking better than this, though. So far, this very much has “a win is a win” vibe. Individually, Michael Olise failed to impress. Raphaël Guerreiro was just....there. Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlović were...okay.…
! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9Ep0IpypuM— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) September 1, 2024The lineup was quite the head scratcher. Things just had trouble adding up. Depending on how you viewed Kimmich, this was either going to be some kind of funky back-three or maybe a 4-1-4-1. Either way, the omissions of Sacha Boey and João Palhinha was noticeable — as was the inclusion of Mathys Tel. The rumors of Musiala playing a little deeper appeared to be coming to fruition. Thomas Muller’s exclusion was not unexpected, but it will be harder to keep him out of the XI if he can string together good performances like he has thus far. The formation was listed as a 4-2-3-1 by one site, a 4-1-4-1 by another, but it did not function like a traditional version of either formation:The distribution of the players on the pitch. #FCBSCF pic.twitter.com/wpAwWiafER— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 1, 2024 At times, Raphaël Guerreiro would slide to look like a center-back. Other times, Dayot Upamecano pushed out to look like a right center-back in a back-three. Then, either Joshua Kimmich or Aleksandar Pavlović would drop into a central defender role. On defense, Jamal Musiala seemed to function as a central midfielder, but bumped up as an attacking midfielder when on offense. Everything was fluid and unpredictable for SC Freiburg — and Bayern Munich (unfortunately).The attack was not smooth or in sync at all early on. With so many roles quickly changing during play, it might have gone the Thomas the Train route — causing confusion and delay. There were some moments of excitement and brilliance, but on first instinct, it appeared that Vincent Kompany was overcomplicating things with his tactics.While dominant in the first half, Bayern Munich could not muster many great chances. In particular, Harry Kane seemed like he had some trouble getting involved in the attack.Bayern Munich was fortunate to get a handball call that Kane made SC Freiburg pay for. His penalty kick in the 38th minute put Bayern Munich up 1-0.Hopefully, Kompany does not fall victim to what help fell both Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel — trying to prove every second of every game that there were the smartest person in the stadium. One of the biggest criticisms of Nagelsmann was his persistent tinkering — early on, it seemed as if Kompany might have some of those tendencies. The most successful coaches of Bayern Munich’s modern era — Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick — were not tinkerers. Generally, those two were fairly consistent with assessing player performance, picking lineups, and keeping tactics simple. Does Bayern Munich’s brass get wooed too easily by the promise of what a coaching candidate pitches, rather than the reality of how it will play out on the pitch?It is far too early to be in #KompanyOut territory. To assert as much would be premature (to say the least). It has to start looking better than this, though. So far, this very much has “a win is a win” vibe. Individually, Michael Olise failed to impress. Raphaël Guerreiro was just....there. Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlović were...okay.…
