Bayern Munich put in a composed performance against a very capable opponent in Mainz, overcoming a pretty tiresome adversary away from home. The scoreline is heavily misleading: Bayern thoroughly dominated throughout, and the home side were lucky the Bavarians did not show up with their scoring boots. That being said, somebody please check on Harry Kane.
Too Much, Too Little
Too many chances, too few goals.
Bayern Munich had 7 shots on target, a 92% pass accuracy, and a bajillion chances created during the game—with only
two goals to show for it. It should not have been remotely close, but the match ended up being decided by a single goal.
That is what makes this win strange. Not in the sense that this is something new we are seeing from Bayern: the team has had patches where it has struggled to finish chances, such as the second leg versus PSG in the Champions League last season or the game against Viking, where Bayern simply lacked an end product.
Is it time to move Upamecano to striker?
The Perpetual Motion Machine of Munich
Konrad Laimer.
The player with four lungs. Alpine Zidane. You can call him anything because he’s too busy streaking toward goal or defending against two men to care.
Bayern Munich does not need a starting-quality right-back in the winter window, and Laimer has made that loud and clear. So now the club has to invest in a backup so that Laimer isn’t run into the ground. The player has made massive improvements to his game, including his telepathic communication with Michael Olise. The two have a fantastic instinct for where the other is at any given point and are able to overlap seamlessly.
“Konise” (yes, we’re calling it that) synergy elevates both players. They both defend like maniacs and attack like the defenders owe them money. Laimer’s two-way contributions ensured Mainz could really not do much for most of the game down that flank.
Can someone call a plumber?
This defense is leakier than a politician’s “off-the-record” dinner party.
Which is annoying, because for large parts of the game, it is rock solid. It is impossible to get past Upamecano, and Jonas Urbig is a fantastic goalkeeper—make no mistake. However, the team still concedes silly goals by switching off for a split second. That’s exactly how Bayern conceded a goal at the death, and how they would have conceded another silly one had VAR not intervened earlier in the game.
Is this a mentality issue? Do the players get a false sense of security as soon as Bayern takes the lead?
Either way, something needs to be done to fix this. This defense has the potential to be Europe’s best, but at the moment, it is simply not there.
The most important number
Three. Three points. That’s all that matters at the end of the day, and if Bayern is able to collect three points after every game for the rest of the season, we would have another treble. This iteration of Bayern just feels different somehow: injury-ridden, head coach out, players shaking off rust… and somehow Bayern is the only undefeated side in Europe’s top leagues.
Maybe you do not need to press like crazy every single game and play like it is your last. Sometimes it is alright to eke out a win, conserve some energy, and regroup for a bigger occasion. Bayern will have to face the likes of Barcelona, PSG, and Arsenal later in the season, and those games will be decided by the finest of margins. A win is all that will count there.
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