Dante Bonfirm has returned to Bayern Munich for the first time in over a decade in order to manage the Bavarians’ U-23s. There, he takes over a squad that just finished a disappointing 8th in the Regionalliga. The Brazilian’s final game as a professional was on May 29th, as he helped keep OGC Nice in Ligue 1. Less than a month later, on June 22, the 42-year-old has begun preseason with the U-23s as they look to compete for promotion again.
Bayern’s official website provides a good look at what lies
ahead, before the season even truly begins:
In addition to several returning loan players, Maycon Douglas Cardozo was also back in the squad after recovering from a thigh injury. Filip Pavić and Bastian Assomo, who played for the U-17s last year, also trained with Dante for the first time. Before heading out onto the pitch, the first meeting of the new coaching team was on the agenda – featuring a clear message and an initial introduction of the team and staff.
Dante also had some positive words about the team after his first impression:
“It was a good start with high intensity. The lads were very focused and showed a lot of good play. It’s a lot of fun to train and work at this facility. The conditions are outstanding.” He explained that it had long been his wish to coach a team. Today he took his first steps: “I’m really looking forward to this task and am happy to have this opportunity. We all have to work hard from the very beginning to challenge and develop the lads. The first test match against Warsaw is already on Saturday. Until then, we want to make the most of our time.”
Preseason schedule
Naturally, preseason is filled with a lot of intensive training and multiple friendlies. The Bavarians have schedule 4 friendlies thus far and have around 1 month before their Regionalliga Bayern season officially starts. Here is the remaining schedule:
July 12, 2 PM: Stuttgarter Kickers vs. Amateurs
July 19, 3 p.m.: SSV Ulm vs. Amateurs
July 23-26: First matchday of the Regionalliga Bayern
Full squad list, promoted players
The Regionalliga Bayern transfer window is already open, but no external transfers. That is likely because the current squad is already massive. This is a list of all the players currently registered for the U-23s. Of course, there is every chance new players/returning loanees will arrive over the course of preseason or even after the season has already started. Or a few of these players could be let go/loaned out over the course of the window. Furthermore, there are multiple players (e.g. Wisdom Mike, David Santos Daiber) out injured that are listed as part of the squad yet cannot participate in any of the training sessions or games.
Still, at the time of writing, here is the full squad list:
Goalkeepers
Leon Klanac, Jannis Bärtl, Leonard Ruland, Leonard Prescott (injured), Hannes Heilmair
Defenders
Filip Pavić, Raphaël Pavlić, David Heindl, Cassiano Kiala (injured), Vincent Manuba (injured), Roko Mijatović, Luis Schäfer, Benedikt Wimmer, Chivano Wijks (injured), Julien Yanda
Midfielders:
Allen Junior Lambe, Felipe Chávez, Guido Della Rovere (injured), Bogdan Olychenko, Louis Richter (injured), Mudaser Sadat, David Santos (injured), Benno Schmitz
Forwards:
Maycon Cardozo, Wisdom Mike (injured), Younes Aitamer (injured), Tim Binder, Bajung Darboe, Arthur Degraf, Anton Heinz, Michael Scott, Noah Codjo-Evora, Yll Gashi, Oluwaseyi Wilson, Jason Eckl, Bastian Assomo, Richard Meier
Analysis
Immediately, the squad seems very unbalanced. There are just two right backs (both injured) and one left back in Yanda, who is supposed to move on anyways, along with 7 center backs. That is nothing compared to the 14 (!) forwards currently in the squad. Clearly, some forwards and center backs will need to find moves away- either permanent or temporary ones while some full back additions-and maybe another midfielder- could be useful. Perhaps U-19’s left back Richard Ajayi could be promoted.
Friendlies
At the time of writing, Dante’s men have played two friendlies.
Season goals
The U-23s never make challenging for promotion their express goal- honestly, those in charge worry the current model of operating with a mostly U-19s squad in the Regionalliga Bayern will have to be scrapped to compete in the league above- but they always wish to be in and around the title race. The fact that they finished in distant mid table last season, especially after som heavy investment last summer, was embarrassing. Dante and his men will wish to finish much higher up the table.
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