FC Bayern completely stunned
“Brutal” problems hit Nagelsmann badly
By Tobias Nordmann & David Needy
09/17/2022, 7:54 p.m
FC Bayern falls into a serious crisis and is worse than it has been in 20 years. One reason again: few offensive ideas and poor exploitation of chances. Even goalkeeper Neuer tries as a striker – and fails. The point cut by coach Nagelsmann looks threatening.
Sometimes football is scary. When FC Bayern finally fell into crisis at 4.48 p.m. on this Saturday afternoon, when coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team fell 1-0 behind at FC Augsburg after desperate shots, Robert Lewandowski set out 1226 kilometers away (by foot via measured by Google Maps) on the way to the gate of Elche CF. And at 4.49 p.m. he had achieved what he had set out to do: Robert Lewandowski made it 1-0 for his FC Barcelona. The striker struck ice cold, rewarding his team’s attack.
In Munich, they won’t want to hear anything from higher powers in football for the next few days. Especially not Nagelsmann, who now wants to question everything. Even himself, as he admitted remarkably honestly after the final whistle. In Munich, they won’t hear about their ex-player Lewandowski, let alone talk about him, his league goals seven and eight and the Catalans’ lead (at least until Sunday night’s Derbi Madrileño between Real and Atlético Madrid). It will remain a pious wish. Because the crisis at FC Bayern, which manifested itself at the start of the Oktoberfest, is one that revolves around exactly those things that hardly any player on the planet can do better than Lewandowski: goals.
In the 95th minute of this 7th match day, the record champions could have reduced the crisis to a crisis. But because Manuel Neuer is a goalkeeper and not a striker, it remained 0-1. Whereby you do the captain an injustice if you dwarf his header. He was really good, only Rafal Gikiewicz was even better. The FCA goalkeeper made an outstanding save. For the umpteenth time. Fantastic for Augsburg. Frustrating but for Bayern. Which is now being penetrated with the catchy tune that the opponent’s goalkeeper also played really well. But that can’t be an excuse. In the Bundesliga, many formidable goalkeepers are under contract. Where is this supposed to lead? Rather, the poor exploitation of opportunities grows into a chronic problem. Significant that it was keeper Neuer, who had one of the best chances in injury time.
Nagelsmann with a miserable point cut
At the center of the Munich problem: newcomer Sadio Mané. The lightning-fast world-class player, who hit the Bundesliga with a thunder, has been at odds with himself and his degree for weeks. God knows he’s not alone, but he’s the man who should be primarily responsible for the attack after the departure of the Polish top scorer. Trainer Nagelsmann even saw himself challenged several times this week to speak strongly to the sensitive Senegalese. He shouldn’t think so much, discover the selfishness in himself more – and of course like to score a goal again. There has been zero for five games. A drama for every striker. Unlike Lewandowski. After seven competitive games, he has nine goals again!
But Nagelsmann will also have to put up with criticism. After the massive squad restructuring in his sense his team once again brings a game that is far too unstructured and unimaginative for a long time. That was also the case in the first 45 minutes against Barcelona, which the victory in the end couldn’t hide. Nagelsmann also has to answer how Bayern want to get through this season without a real centre-forward, without a determined executor on the nine à la Lewandowski – Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was brought on for Mané in the 78th minute.
The point average of Munich’s game director is currently 1.71 in this Bundesliga season. Niko Kovac was released from the record champions in 2020 with 1.80 points per game (his overall point average at Bayern was 2.26). Now FC Bayern is fourth in the table after seven games with twelve points, after Kovac’s last game (1:5 in Frankfurt) it was also fourth after ten games with 18 points.
“It’s not Bayern-like”
The visibly disappointed Nagelsmann found it “not so easy to find words” because of the crisis. Looking ahead to the upcoming international break, he said: “I’m thinking about everything. About me. About the situation. About everything.” Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić added: “You can’t win in the Bundesliga the way we played today.” The record champions have “brutal problems against teams that play against us physically, that knock our socks off, so to speak. Three points from four games – I don’t know if I like the measure,” said the squad planner before the Oktoberfest visit Sunday. Nagelsmann once again complained about the lack of efficiency. His players were “simply very laissez-faire”. His desire for the Oktoberfest? Not available anymore.
Record national player Lothar Matthäus therefore sees restless days ahead for his former club. “It’s not Bayern-like, there will be headlines, there will also be discussions in the club,” he said on Sky.
Already in the first half against Barcelona Leroy Sané, the inhibited Mané or Thomas Müller had far too little penetrating power and determination on the pitch. Bayern often combined up to the sixteen, but then the attacks fizzled out. Even against Augsburg, Munich’s highly gifted ball artists didn’t come up with much until they fell behind. But in a crisis, luck is often lacking in the last minutes of a tight game. “I’m stunned, we must never lose this game. After four games without a win, we’re obviously crippled, so of course the weather suits that a bit, it’s getting darker and darker,” said Müller after the game, correspondingly annoyed. “We created more chances but didn’t finish it well enough.” The fact that the feared opponent FCA ended Bayern’s record series of 87 Bundesliga games in a row with at least one goal also shows that there are problems on the offensive. As in 2014, by the way, after 65 games.
Bayern’s first defeat of the season, the disgrace in Augsburg, is also the fourth game in a row without a win. Of course, the record champions didn’t know anything like that with Lewandowski. You have to look far back in the history books of the league and you will find what you are looking for in the 2001/02 season, when Bayern did not win seven games in a row. The worst FCB for 20 years is maneuvering itself into a historic crisis without a real goal scorer, a coach who may already be viewed critically internally and a game that is often too harmless and disembodied.