If it’s not broke, then don’t try to fix it, right? This quite certainly applies to Bayern Munich this season, as the Bundesliga champions have been a true force to be reckoned with, having yet to have lost
a single match across all competitions and their only small misstep came in the form of a 2-2 draw at Union Berlin. The German Rekordmeister have been able to do this without superstars Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies, both of whom have been working their way back from considerable injury layovers. Nonetheless, the squad planning at a club like FC Bayern never stops and they always have to think two steps ahead.
There have been a handful of good examples in recent seasons of players that have had success on loan spells away from Bayern, which gives them the luxury of deciding whether or not to offload them for decent fees, or keep them at the club after their loan spells. There have also been younger, fringe players in the squad that have gone elsewhere in the Bundesliga and found success at some of the so-called ‘smaller clubs in Germany. The club’s supervisory board has wanted an emphasis to be placed on developing homegrown talents, but it is a difficult balance to work those players into the senior squad full of superstars.
Angelo Stiller is one of those players that worked his way through Bayern’s youth teams before moving to TSG Hoffenheim and then VfB Stuttgart – he’s made quite a name for himself at both clubs. At a recent appearance at the Kings League in Germany, former Bayern and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said that he would like to see the 24-year-old back in Munich. “Angelo [Stiller] is a very interesting player. I would like to see him at Bayern,” he said (via @iMiaSanMia).
At Hoffenheim, he made a total of 52 appearances across all competitions for the senior squad, predominantly as a defensive midfielder, having tallied 4 goals and 3 assists. So far at Stuttgart, he has made a total of 99 appearances across all competitions, having tallied 6 goals and 22 assists, having also won the DFB-Pokal last season when Stuttgart defeated Arminia Bielefeld in the final in Berlin.
Perhaps one day we will see Stiller back at Bayern, especially if prominent figures like Schweinsteiger are making the recommendation.
