Four games, no wins. That has never happened to Bayern Munich before. The nine-time consecutive Bundesliga champions have finished their pre-season in a bad shape, but not in a bad mood (so far). New coach Julian Nagelsmann is not worried (at least he says so), but surely the young tactician cannot be happy with the results in the pre-season. So, what is happening with the Bavarians? A couple of things like a new coach, star players missing, injuries and squad depth. Napoli, Cologne, Borussia Monchengladbach and Ajax. Not bad teams at all, but still, Bayern only managed a draw with the Dutch champion, and lost to other teams. There are no more friendly matches for Nagelsmann and co. as Bayern start the DFB Pokal on Friday, with a fifth-league Bremer SV as their opponent, and then take on their Cryptonite, Borussia Monchengladbach in the first round of the Bundesliga. Bayern to part ways with a French international: Nagelsmann wants to keep Coman while Tolisso is free to goBayern was without their main stars for the majority of those friendlies. Pavard, Goretzka, Gnabry, Musiala, Sane, Coman, Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Joshua Kimmich, and Manuel Neuer were all missing, but the first seven of those players were on the field for the 0-3 loss to Napoli. “We haven’t played with each other for a couple of months, and most of us have only been training for a week. That’s why it’ll take time for everyone to get up to speed and for us to internalize the new coach’s ideas. The situation will drastically improve with time, but I’m sure we’ll be ready. I hope we perform like we always do” explained Gnabry. Being such a big club has it’s negatives: most of the players participated in EURO 2020 and needed an extended break. Muller, Kimmich, and Neuer basically didn’t play at all during the pre-season, and DFP Pokal will be their first match for Bayern since May. The Bavarians have a new coach and it’s essential for the players to see what he wants and what’s his tactics, and generally to settle with the new coach. “No, I’m not worried! The players now need the rhythm, the content is secondary. We need a lot of actions in training” said Nagelsmann. Utter madness! Bayern youngster Zirkzee misses the empty net and suffers abuse from so-called fansA number of players are also injured: Lucas Hernández (knee surgery), Niklas Sule (back), Marc Roca, and Alphonso Davies (both torn ligaments) will be out for a few more weeks. Kingsley Coman was injured during the Napoli game, and had to come out due to bruised ribs. On top of that, the squad depth is worrying. Biggest problems are the right-back position and central midfield, who are thin without Goretzka and Kimmich. The wing position is occupied by only three players: Gnabry, Coman, and Sane. Surely Nagelsmann has worked his miracles before when he managed Red Bull Leipzig and he is used to work with less talented squads, but Leipzig always had good depth, something which Bayern doesn’t have at the moment, and considering the current transfer market probably won’t have in the near future. Unless the Bavarians lose against Borussia and Cologne in the first two rounds of Bundesliga.
