Sports injuries at FC Bayern
Tuchel’s personnel crisis shows the gaps in squad planning
As of: 2:38 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Worries at the start of autumn: Thomas Tuchel from FC Bayern is currently missing several important players
Quelle: Getty Images/Lars Baron
FC Bayern and Thomas Tuchel disagreed over transfer plans in the summer. Now the coach is missing the entire central defense. Uli Hoeneß still sticks to his opinion. Bayern could make improvements in the winter.
For a long time there has been nothing for the fans to see outside of match days. At FC Bayern, public training sessions are rare anyway and have no longer existed in the past few weeks. Coach Thomas Tuchel wants to work in peace.
There wouldn’t be as many stars as usual on the training ground on Säbener Strasse anyway. Before the top game in the Bundesliga away against RB Leipzig on Saturday (6.30 p.m., Sky), Bayern have enormous personnel concerns. In the middle of the English weeks, the coach is missing important stars. Spicy, Tuchel had wished in vain for more additions during the transfer period in the summer. And publicly warned several times.
“The squad is a bit thin, a bit small,” said the 50-year-old recently. He probably related this primarily to the central midfield and the defense. “We will do our best and push the squad. It’s a good squad, but a bit brave in some positions.” He was “very sad” when he found out that the transfer of dream player João Palinha from Fulham FC didn’t work. “Because I knew how much the player wanted to come to us and I know what the player would have given us,” said Tuchel.
The offensive national player Serge Gnabry broke his left arm in the 4-0 first round win in the DFB Cup against third division club SC Preußen Münster last Tuesday evening and will probably be out for up to six weeks. In addition, the entire central defense was missing against Münster: Matthijs de Ligt will probably not be able to play against Leipzig either. “It will only be something for him against Copenhagen at the earliest, probably more against Freiburg,” said Tuchel. On Tuesday evening, Bayern face FC Copenhagen in the second group game of the Champions League, and five days later they host SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga. Gnabry’s loss is “very bitter for him and for us,” said Tuchel.
Müller with adductor problems
Central defender Minjae Kim was out against Münster with a bruised thigh, his partner Dayot Upamecano with adductor problems. It remains to be seen whether they will be fit by Saturday. “That is our great hope,” said new sports director Christoph Freund.
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Bayern did not sign a replacement for defensive all-rounder Benjamin Pavard, who moved to Inter Milan at the end of August. They had previously given up defensive professionals Lucas Hernández (Paris St. Germain) and Josip Stanisic (Bayer Leverkusen). Against Münster, midfielder Leon Goretzka had to help out as a defender. Tuchel praised him. However, he also made it clear how much he hoped that such a measure would no longer be necessary in the coming weeks.
“With Benjamin we have lost someone who can play two positions. At the moment we can absorb it, but that has a few consequences,” said Tuchel at the beginning of September. “We have six trained defensive players for a four-man chain, which is on point.” Thomas Müller could also be missing against Leipzig. The world champion suffers from adductor problems. “It will be a close race,” said Tuchel.
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Last week, the coach told the Swiss television station Blue+: “We have double staff in every position up front and we have a very high level there. Things get a little thinner on the six and in defense. And we have to make sure that we treat the players like a raw egg so that they get through without injury.” When it came to squad planning, Tuchel and the Sport Committee, the club’s transfer committee around honorary president Uli Hoeneß, did not always agree.
After the massive win against Bochum, the team and the club management visited the Munich Oktoberfest. There Hoeneß said: “With the squad we have, you can expect to celebrate football like this. Because that was football of the highest quality.” The Bayern squad is estimated to be worth almost a billion euros. Tuchel said this week: “It’s not about whether I feel vindicated or whether anyone is right or not. It’s always about finding what’s best for the club.”
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According to sporting director Freund, Manuel Neuer should train with the team next week at the latest. The captain and national goalkeeper has been missing since December when he broke his lower leg in a skiing accident.
“We started a small series”
Bayern are looking for revenge against Leipzig: last August they lost 3-0 in their own stadium. All goals were scored by Dani Olmo, who will miss Saturday due to injury. “That was a very bad performance from us. After that it clicked a little bit, you had the impression,” said Goretzka after the win against Münster.
After the defeat in the Supercup, Bayern followed up with six competitive wins, including the 7-0 win against VfL Bochum last weekend, as well as a draw. “Now we have put together a few decent performances in a row and started a small series of victories – and of course we want to continue that on Saturday,” emphasized Goretzka.
Bayern want to examine possible transfers in the winter. “We are discussing where we can improve in the winter and where we need to take action,” said sports director Freund. “It has to fit the team. We will find the right solutions. It’s certainly a challenge.”
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