Okay…was that really necessary?
When Bayern Munich first announced an additional preseason friendly, the logic made sense. Bayern’s heavy international complement had a busy summer and arrived late to season preparations after the Men’s World Cup; head coach Vincent Kompany wanted more time for players who could not appear in the Asia tour.
However the way the scheduled ended up, Bayern handed itself some early match congestion before the season even began. Tuesday’s match at FC Heidenheim comes just
three days on the heel of the previous contest, an intense Telekom Cup bout against RB Leipzig. And it is now just four days to the next match, the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against Borussia Dortmund.
The Leipzig match already had all the makings of a preview of in-season intensity — without any of the stakes. The Supercup, likewise, is an official in season competition — but not one with the weight of the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, or Champions League. These two matches together were a good way to ease into the season. So why add a third in between them?
Against Heidenheim, Bayern’s big stars played…well, some of them, and not a lot. Harry Kane and Michael Olise had just 30 minutes; the likes of Luis Díaz, Ismael Saibari, and Jamal Musiala already played at the weekend. Kane’s spoken already on his uncertainty of being ready for a full 90’ at the Supercup, so his cameo Tuesday appears to have done little other than reduce his recovery time.
Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer, and Tom Bischof all missed the match — Kimmich due to a muscular issue and the latter two due to workload management.
Bayern’s youngsters did log a good number of additional minutes…but that is not exactly a point in favor of getting into season shape for the senior team. Besides, is it a good idea to put that kind of match load on younger and less physically developed players trying to progress?
Note, this not a commentary on Jamal Musiala. The young Bayern star has spoken out now about the scary situation that led to two on-field collapses; his situation and condition is complex and, as a private matter, deserves a measure of pause before breathless commentary. It is also not really related to Bayern’s preseason schedule.
Rather, it is a question over the wisdom of introducing an English week before Bayern had to.
Consider: Bayern executives often speak about the disadvantages the club faces in the transfer market. The German record champions are well-pocketed, but they do not exactly have the deep pockets of a state or corporate super-sponsor, nor the Premier League TV revenue that is leaving other clubs in the dust. For Bayern to continue to keep pace competitively, it needs to book in and lean on its advantages.
Among those, studious management is one and a point of pride for the club. But the Bundesliga itself is another one. The German top flight plays fewer games, has a longer winter break, and is a lot less competitive than the EPL. Bayern can’t overload its roster with big transfers the same way Arsenal, Manchester City, or FC Barcelona can. It can keep its squad fresher and less overworked…and use some of those early Bundesliga games as an extension of the preseason.
Bayern’s approach is understandable too, of course. Always go hard, always be maximally ready once the season begins — whether it’s the glorified friendly that is the Supercup, the Bundesliga opener, or the DFB-Pokal first round (at Osnabrück on September 2).
It is just hard to look at this Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday blitz heading into the first batch of games — Bayern play four competitive fixtures in 15 days to start the season — and see the positives of rhythm and development outweighing the risks of injury and fatigue.
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