When it comes to center forwards, Nagelsmann becomes clear
Without Lewandowski, Julian Nagelsmann has to compensate for a striker who contributed 344 goals and 72 assists in 375 competitive games
Credit: AFP/MICHAL CIZEK
At Bayern, the debate is smoldering as to whether the team can meet the high standards without Lewandowski, who has migrated to FC Barcelona. She initiated Honorary President Uli Hoeneß. Coach Julien Nagelsmann holds against it.
Dhe center forward debate heated up by Honorary President Uli Hoeneß accompanied FC Bayern Munich up to the Champions League game at Viktoria Pilsen. Coach Julian Nagelsmann sees it as his duty to close the gap in a classic nine in the German record champions as well as possible after world footballer Robert Lewandowski (34) changed millions to FC Barcelona.
“It’s my job to steer things in such a way that we compensate well, regardless of whether the honorary president or anyone else is commenting on it. In the end, it’s my job to do it because the squad is what it is,” said Nagelsmann before the game on Wednesday evening (9 p.m., in the sports ticker at WELT) in the Czech Republic. From the coach’s point of view, the personnel situation on the offensive is “good enough” to “compensate for the lack of a classic nine”.
“You can pick up a lot of things. We have a lot of chances to score. It’s always hypothetical to say how many of them a classic nine would have made that we didn’t do,” argued Nagelsmann, referring to Lewandowski, who has been good for around 50 goals per season in recent years. “Statistically speaking, we also have more chances than last year, in other words, it might be a good thing that we have the necessary variability up front,” said Nagelsmann. With the addition of Sadio Mané from Liverpool FC, Bayern signed a fast, strong striker in the summer.
Hoeneß outlined the risk of leaving Lewandowski
“It’s always a question of the transfer market, what’s available, what’s affordable and what makes sense in the team structure. You have to see the big picture,” Nagelsmann remarked on principle. The debate annoys the 35-year-old: “In a phase where you score fewer goals, you can always say that the classic nine is missing. At the beginning we scored a lot of goals and he wasn’t there either. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and make their own judgment about it.”
Hoeneß had clearly positioned himself on the subject after the 2-2 draw in the top Bundesliga game at Borussia Dortmund at the weekend. “One thing is for sure, I think we’re missing a nine,” said the 70-year-old on Sunday on BR television. The former club president noted that it was “a difficult decision to give up Robert over the summer. With the risk that certain goals will no longer be scored.”
Bayern professional Leon Goretzka emphasized in Pilsen that “no one” at Bayern underestimated the Lewandowski vacuum. “Everyone was already aware that Lewy scored a lot of goals for us,” said the midfielder: “But if you look at our results, we were definitely able to score goals. We won’t get any new strikers in the next few weeks, but we’ll get back on track with our current squad,” said national player Goretzka pugnaciously.
