Thursday, January 06, 2022
Bayern squad is filling up slowly
Isolated newcomer will soon be allowed to leave the Maldives
In the meantime, nine Bayern players are in domestic isolation. The day before the second half of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach there are still seven. National goalkeeper Manuel is expected back in Munich next Monday. The first wave broke.
Bayern Munich will soon be able to fall back on national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The captain of the record champions is expected back next Monday in the Bavarian capital after his corona infection. This was confirmed by coach Julian Nagelsmann at the press conference before the eagerly awaited second half of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach, which will take place despite Bayern’s emergency squad. Neuer had tested positive during his winter vacation in the Maldives and is currently in domestic isolation there.
Neuer will not be the first player to return to the squad after the corona outbreak at Bayern. As early as Wednesday, the nine players in domestic isolation turned into seven. The Englishman Omar Richards and Corentin Tolisso were tested and are now undergoing a lung test to see how resilient the players are after their infection.
The French international Kingsley Coman will be released from domestic isolation in Dubai on Thursday night and can then also make his way back to Munich. However, like Richards and Tolisso, the winger is not an option for the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The two French center-backs Hernández and Tanguy Nianzou have to wait a little longer. You won’t be able to test yourself until the end of next week. Coach Nagelsmann confessed that he had lost track of things a little when it came to Corona and possible return dates. “I’m honest. I don’t know every date by heart one hundred percent. I have a list, there are already nine players,” admitted Nagelsmann, who has lost little of his optimism.
“It’s about the health of the players”
While Nagelsmann spoke out between the lines in favor of canceling the start, he repeatedly emphasized that his field of responsibility as a coach is simply different from the exchange with the DFL. “I’m not one to cry around,” he said, speaking of an “extremely attractive season from a coach’s point of view”. “Players play in positions they are not trained in.”
Overall, Bayern will have to do without 13 players on Friday. That also means: the returnees Joshua Kimmich and Marcel Sabitzer as well as the ailing Niklas Süle – his commitment was also questionable for a long time – may have to go over 90 minutes. A fact that Nagelsmann cannot, but must, get used to. “It’s about the health of the players”, he emphasized several times and also pointed out that the integration of the French Coman and Tolisso after injuries and subsequent infection will not go ahead easily. The mix makes it “a bigger issue than just Corona,” said the Bayern coach.
After the outbreak at Bayern, there was always criticism of the professionals’ vacation trips. “I’m not an educator, I’m a football coach, and we all have players who are of a mature age and of course have a certain degree of personal responsibility,” said Nagelsmann in defense of his players. “There is no option, and I would never express it if it is not regulated by law, that you are not allowed to go on vacation.”