Did someone sound the angry pundit alarm?
After a disappointing 0-0 draw with Schalke 04, Bayern Munich will look to pick up the pieces with a Champions League match against FK Bodø/Glimt and a Bundesliga showdown with upstart SV Elversberg 07.
Per Didi Hamann, Bayern Munich fans had better hope that Harry Kane starts both games and not Ismael Saibari.
“People always say Bayern are better than last year. They’re not better than last year. The two players who came are (Nathaniel) Brown and Saibari. Internally,
there’s uncertainty about whether Alphonso Davies will return. There’s also a question mark over (Jamal) Musiala at the moment, for other reasons. Then you’ve lost (Raphaël) Guerreiro, (Leon) Goretzka, and (Nicolas) Jackson – over 100 games and, I think, over 25 goals. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Jackson, but we really miss his pace,” Hamann told Bild. “You have Kane up front, who isn’t the fastest. You now have Saibari as a backup, who isn’t the fastest either. They say Saibari can play four positions. I think the only position Saibari can play is behind Kane, because he’s too slow on the wing. Gnabry is a class above him there.
“Saibari is a wonderful football player, but he’s too slow. He’s not fast — he’s like a bad Kane.”
BFW Commentary
It is not out of line for Bayern Munich to throw some Jamie Lannister-type hype around the Englishman, “There are no strikers like Harry Kane, just Kane.”
Kane’s style is near impossible to replicate and has become an integral part of how Bayern Munich plays. However, it seems like it is also a bit too early and probably unnecessary to call Saibari, “a bad Kane.”
The Moroccan is coming off of an injury and getting acclimated with how to integrate into Bayern Munich’s style of play. Does he look like a natural fill-in for Kane? No shot. Does it mean that he cannot play that role as backup when needed? Also, no.
However, fans know how this might go.
Saibari does play the No.9 for Morocco, but he does not fit the Bayern Munich prototype for the position. That could eventually result in a call for Bayern Munich to get a new, backup striker in January if things do not improve.
Such is life in Bavaria. For now, though, it would be a little hasty to just bail on Saibari.
Where Hamman might have a point is that the Moroccan might not be as versatile as some fans would like. Saibari’s ability to play wing does remain somewhat in doubt.
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