One of the biggest positives to come out of Bayern Munich’s Asia tour may have had very little to do with the results.
The tour gave Vincent Kompany and the Bayern Munich coaching staff an extended look at several young players who might otherwise have struggled to get meaningful opportunities with the first team. With a number of established players unavailable because of the World Cup, the door was opened for some of Bayern Munich’s prospects to travel with the squad and earn valuable playing time.
According to Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer (via @iMiaSanMia_GER), what the club saw was extremely encouraging.
“It was important during the Asia tour to see that many of the young players have enormous potential. Because some established players weren’t there due to the World Cup, many young ones were able to travel along and also got playing time. When one sees someone like that (Bastian) Assomo or (Tim) Binder, (Maycon) Cardozo or Bara (Sapoko Ndiaye), there’s a lot of potential there,” said Hainer.
That is exactly what a preseason tour should be about for a club like Bayern Munich. Yes, the first team needs to prepare for another demanding season, but these tours also provide an opportunity to evaluate the next generation. For young players, getting minutes alongside established Bayern Munich stars is an experience that cannot be replicated in the youth setup.
Players such as Assomo, Binder, Cardozo and Bara were given an opportunity to show the coaching staff what they can do. More importantly, they were able to experience the expectations that come with wearing the Bayern Munich shirt.
Not every prospect will ultimately become a regular first-team player. That is simply the reality at Bayern Munich, where the competition for places is enormous. But the club needs to continually identify players capable of making that jump.
The Asia tour appears to have reinforced the idea that Bayern Munich has another promising group coming through the pipeline.
For Kompany, the challenge now is figuring out which of those young players can turn potential into consistent performances. For Bayern Munich, though, that is a very good problem to have.
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