Chaos, creativity, spasms
Kane-Mania hides massive Bayern problems
By David Needy, Bremen
08/19/2023, 5:35 am
Thanks to Harry Kane, FC Bayern finished off Werder Bremen at the start of the season. But the appearance of dominance is deceptive: For a long time, the Munich team had little idea at the front, later chaos reigned in midfield and defense at times. Coach Thomas Tuchel is facing problems.
Sure, in the end it’s a 4-0. Sounds dominant. Then it was. Somehow. Actually. Or? Static FC Bayern Munich defeated Werder Bremen in an absolutely superior manner at the start of the 60th Bundesliga season. But the dominance is crumbling when you take a closer look. Because the German record champion reveals massive problems that the entire madness surrounding the debut of 100 million Harry Kane cannot hide.
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel only called the game “solid” in the press conference. But the victory “is good for everyone now”. He immediately praises his new superstar for his “super start”, finally Kane puts on the goal to make it 1-0 and scores the second himself. “Started immediately with an assist and shot one in – it can go on like this,” rejoices Tuchel. The Englishman even admitted after the game that he was “a little nervous” and had “a few butterflies” in his stomach. “It was a good evening for me,” he summarizes his debut.
Kane. Kane. Kane. The Kane mania is all-pervasive even before the game. When does he come? When does he first touch the ball? When does he breathe in? When out? Wow! The striker is finally jogging upright on the grass in the Weser Stadium. Cell phone cameras are skyrocketing. All Bayern players warm up with the ball, the newcomer prefers to stretch extensively. A little water, comb your hair back again. Then he briefly knocks over Alphonso Davies during the warm-up game and then doesn’t hit his first warm-up shot properly. It doesn’t matter, the ball still hits the left post and from there into the goal. Stop superstar.
Harry Kane, the “Nine and a Half”
Then he can finally get started. The England captain who sparked a week-long tug of war between Bayern and Tottenham Hotspur and ended up costing more than any other signing in league history, making it worth more than the entire Werder Bremen squad (98.5m euros according to “transfermarkt.de”). And it all begins so perfectly that even the Englishman could not have imagined.
After Kane mastered what was perhaps the most difficult task of the evening with a stoic expression – Lothar Matthäus arrives with a bowl and a whistle concert, The Boss Hoss country-rocks the national anthem, Lothar Matthäus claps with both teams – Bayern puts pressure on from the start. In the fourth minute, Kane shows how much fun the Munich team will still have in him: With a lightning-fast counterattack, he puts a wonderful direct pass through to Leroy Sané, who, thanks to the clean pass, runs towards the goal alone and coolly inserts it in the bottom left.
Kane, the assist giver. Immediately, the striker proves he’s so much more than a classic number nine. That he also likes to let himself go and serves his teammates in the manner of a playmaker, a ten. Former England international Les Ferdinand aptly referred to Kane as “Nine and a half”. Bayern now have an attacker in their own ranks who not only can hit powerfully and precisely with both feet, but who also acts incredibly intelligently and, above all, economically. Nothing he does is superfluous. A quick tap of the ball is enough for Sané to be on target.
Bavaria’s lethargy, Kimmich’s field goal
But anyone who expects, hopes or fears an opening firework à la 8-0 Bayern like 2020 at the start of the season against Schalke 04 in the Weser Stadium is completely wrong. Because now the problems begin. The well-known, massive problems. Which Kane’s debut can’t hide either. The Tuchel simply does not get trained away.
The Munich lethargy of last season returns. No movement, no flow of play, nothing surprising: Bayern can’t do much with the possession of the ball, they move the ball back and forth unimaginatively and remain largely harmless up front. If there are spaces, Jamal Musiala, who keeps wanting to dribble his head through the wall, and Co. play them out badly and sluggishly. On the few occasions – Joshua Kimmich, for example, shoots a field goal from a free kick, but unfortunately is not on a football field – the callousness is missing. Bremen is inferior in all respects, but FC Bayern doesn’t care. The question remains: Where is Tuchel’s handwriting? What did he practice with the Munich team in his first pre-season?
Meanwhile, Kane is wanted, but rarely found, flanks don’t arrive at all. It feels like Bayern no longer know the game with a target player. However, the fact that not everything works out well in the first Bundesliga game with the Englishman shouldn’t be overestimated. After all: At the last chance before the break, which belongs to the otherwise harmless Bremen team, Kane clears robustly against national striker Niclas Füllkrug with his head. Not the only important defensive action by the newcomer that evening.
Bayern succumb to Bremen pressing
Part two of Bayern’s problems follows in the second half. Werder have set themselves more goals, coming boldly, with aggressive tackles and three good chances from the cabin: Mitchell Weiser shoots over and Leonardo Bittencourt slides the ball centimeters wide of the goal. Then Füllkrug hits the ball over the box with his left hand. A little later, Bayern’s second Bundesliga debutant, Min-Jae Kim, leaves – he hesitates between: he defends every ball himself if he is jerked out of bed at three o’clock in the morning, and: the pace in Germany is still something too fast for him – the ball plopped in front of Jens Stage’s feet, who just missed the goal with a brilliant shot.
“We made one or two mistakes after the break,” Kimmich admits, but also says: “Bremen had a good chance through Bittencourt, but otherwise I didn’t see many chances.” However, Bayern’s defense doesn’t look good four times, the series champion comes under a lot of pressure and is lucky not to concede a draw here.
In addition, there is suddenly chaos in Munich’s midfield. As soon as Bremen presses more courageously and aggressively, as RB Leipzig did in the Supercup, the Bavarian order crumbles. The midfield around Kimmich and Leon Goretzka is overwhelmed when it really has to work and run and not just play. Such a mess as shortly after the break should never happen in a game against Manchester City. Another six will not be brought, as the club announced. Tuchel, who already didn’t get the desired player Declan Rice, shouldn’t like that at all. “We now have to make the best of what we have,” says Kimmich.
But Werder don’t have the class to keep up the pressure for a long time and Bayern pull themselves together. 15 minutes after Kingsley Coman shot the post in the 59th minute, it is Kane of all people who shoots his new club out of the dangerous situation and finally becomes the hero of the evening. A simple one-two levers out the entire right side of Bremen, so that Davies can storm the sixteener with plenty of space. In the middle, Kane runs into the alley, shows where he wants the ball to go, receives it, takes it wonderfully with a single touch, doesn’t hesitate for long – and shoots “ice cold” (O-Ton Tuchel) with the right left corner. After his first Bundesliga goal and his first goal for FC Bayern, he runs jubilantly to the guest curve.
Tuchel under close observation
However, it is significant: As with 1-0, it is a counterattack that leads to the goal. Against a staggered defense, the Bavarians can think of little this evening. But Kane’s goal saves Bayern before they can equalize and end in disaster at the start of the season. After that Werder is broken. And the Englishman also a little. With convulsions he is replaced. Later, in the catacombs, the most sought-after man of the evening (350 journalists are on site, plus 14 TV stations) shuffles through the corridors unharmed. In Sketchers slippers. Naturally.
The other hits by Sané (90th) and Mathys Tel (94th) are only wasted against Bremen who gave up. FC Bayern passed the mandatory task, but Tuchel will continue to be closely monitored in Munich. Seven wins, five defeats and two draws after 14 competitive games are on his account. Now his team even reveals some problems against Bremen that should have been fixed over the summer. So it will be difficult against Dortmund, Leipzig or the teams from the Champions League. In addition, the fans are still waiting for the actual handwriting of the coach in the game of the record champions.
The next few weeks could get complicated for Bayern despite the opening win and Kane-Mania. Despite dominance in Bremen. Which was somehow there. Or?