Experiments can be fun
Some will say Vincent Kompany threw this game. Others will say that Bayern Munich got unlucky. If Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich had been available to start, maybe Arsenal would not have escaped the Allianz Arena with a draw.
That ignores the reality of what is actually important. Arsenal FC under Mikel Arteta are a top class team. Of course, in an ideal world, Kompany would like to beat them. However, in absence of ideal conditions, he had a second option: try something new.
That is exactly why
fans were greeted with the baffling sight of Alphonso Davies on the left wing, with Ismael Saibari and Serge Gnabry joining Harry Kane in attack. While an in-form Nathaniel Brown was benched for a struggling Josip Stanišić. Kompany was obviously looking for a win, but more than that, he needed information. He needed to get to the root of how his team plays.
No, Bayern Munich did not beat Arsenal. They were poised to do it, but stumbled at the last hurdle. Here is the valuable insight Kompany can take away from a game like this:
- Surround Harry Kane with fast runners and you have a cheat code. His pass to Alphonso Davies was just one of many quarterback-style plays he made throughout the game. Kane has played deep before, but his teammates never had the raw pace to really take advantage of everything he can offer. Why does this matter? Well, Davies may not start on the left wing very often, but the coach now has a plan D when A through C are not working.
- Aleksandar Pavlović and Tom Bischof CAN go toe to toe with a physical midfield that includes Declan Rice, one of the best DMs in the world right now. They still can’t replace the creative spark of Joshua Kimmich, but once again, this gives Kompany data that he can use later. As a bonus, Jürgen Klopp was in the stands, watching his future midfield go up against the very best. Extremely valuable insight.
- Ismael Saibari may not be a perfect player, but he can run a press. This became especially apparent when he was subbed off, leading to Arsenal regaining the momentum and completely overrunning the FC Bayern midfield and counterpressing system. Flip the scenario and imagine Saibari is brought on to close out a game in the final 30 minutes. Kompany now knows how he can leverage the talent the Moroccan possesses, while slowly polishing his weaknesses and integrating the rest of his kit into the system.
- Josip Stanišić isn’t getting any better no matter who you pair him with. He is not necessarily a bad player, but his mismatch with the system boils down to fundamentals the coach can’t change.
- The new corner scheme isn’t perfect, but it is miles better than what the team had last year. Zero goals conceded from set pieces versus Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal is always a good look.
- We have final, definitive proof that Serge Gnabry isn’t a reliable winger any more. It’s time to call curtains on that stage of his career.
Some may say it was wasteful to perform these experiments against Arsenal, with so much at stake. On the contrary, the fact that it was Arsenal in a major Champions League game is what makes the experiment worthwhile. A proper field test, in field conditions, yields serious results. You get games like these maybe a half-dozen times a year, and if you’re going to miss all your best players anyway, why not leverage the situation?
Some think that Kompany made a mistake, but he probably got most of what he wanted out of his team. All that was missing was the win.
Multi-role monsters
There are good teams and there are great teams. Then there are the world-class teams. What sets them apart?
People notice the obvious, the superstars and the foundational tactics. They rarely realize that another sort of player holds the superteam together, the multi-role specialists.
This type of player is extremely rare, more rare than “world-class”. Even having a single one counts you among the best in teams in the world. Bayern Munich have three.
Harry Kane saw his team deprived of 90% of its creativity, and decided it was his problem. In the absence of Olise and Kimmich, he dropped deep and picked up play from the defenders, splitting defenses with passing that would put a career playmaker to shame. He had to partially neglect his striker duties to achieve this, but it paid off for the team in the form of goals. There are no strikers in the world that could do what he does. Erling Haaland is just as world-class, but he lacks this sheer breadth of gameplay. It is utterly unique.
Alphonso Davies plays like two players in one. This doesn’t mean that he has the qualities of both a fullback and a winger (which he does), but he also interprets his role such that it seems like Bayern has an extra player on the flank whenever he plays. You don’t get Davies the fullback or Davies the winger, you get BOTH at the same time, when you need it. In this game, the needle was tipped toward the winger. In others, it is usually pointed at the fullback. Nuno Mendes may be the better LB in a vacuum (highly debatable) but Davies does far, far more.
Dayot Upamecano covers three roles at once. He holds the center of the defense by himself, covers for whoever plays right-back, and also bombs forward to support the midfield. The enormous responsibility placed on his shoulders would crush a lesser player, even if they were a better pure defender. Upa can do a bit of everything. He can playmake, he can carry, he can dribble, he can recycle possession, he can win foot races with wingers. The only thing he can’t do is split himself into three. If FC Bayern had three more like him, the defense would be the best in the world.
There are other world-class players on this team. Michael Olise goes without saying, Joshua Kimmich should count if not for some divided opinions. However, when it comes to players who can do many things at once, who make it seem like the coach has a twelfth, thirteenth, or fourteenth man on the pitch? Those are incredibly rare, and must be managed with care.
It is incredibly difficult to coach a system where certain players can do three different things depending on context. This is a “use it or lose it” situation. Kompany must step up and squeeze every single drop of performance out of these multi-role players. Otherwise he won’t get the edge you need to win a Champions League title.
Passivity penalized
After the second goal, FC Bayern made subs and slowly receded into a shell. This is not the first time this has happened this season, and the pattern is alarming.
Bayern Munich is not a team that can “hold on” for a result. Not in normal circumstances. Especially not against world-class opposition like the Gunners. If there is any lesson that Vincent Kompany takes from this result, it has to be this. Either the approach has to change, or the team has to do something radically different in terms of game management.
There ARE teams who can sit back and chill with a one goal lead. They can even do it against the best attacking players in the world. FC Bayern do not play like one of them. This team has the DNA to play on the front foot and control the game through possession. As soon as the momentum is lost, danger multiplies.
The Gunners made use of this in the second half, eventually overrunning Bayern to score their equalizer. Kompany got most things right given the context of this fixture, but this tendency towards passive action in the latter stages of close games has to stop. Trying to hold out for a result may work for Augsburg. It doesn’t work for Bayern Munich.
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