Bayern Munich are pretty good at football I would say. Hansi Flick’s side won all bar one competition they entered last season and will probably do much the same this time around.
Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig are in the hunt and will provide a much needed challenge in Dortmund’s plight but ultimately Bayern – being football’s answer to Thanos – are inevitable.
Jokes about collection of infinity stones aside, Bayern have a ludicrous squad which – much like the French national side – could put out a number of world class variants to their starting line-up.
Bayern have been the pre-eminent team in German football for quite some time and it rather goes without saying that they find themselves the preferred destination in the Bundesliga for any top player.
Hansi Flick rather mystifyingly missed out on coach of the year at the FIFA Best awards considering he did manage to win five trophies with Bayern, coming up one short of Pep’s record with the 09 Barca team. I’m not too sure he will be overly bothered with the personal accolades because the proof is in the five shiny silver puddings added to the trophy cabinet this year.
A pretty good manager I daresay.
Of course a pretty good manager requires pretty good players to achieve such a level of success.
It just so happens that Bayern can put out – by my maths – at least 17 players that wouldn’t look far out of place in any team worldwide.
From Manuel Neuer between the sticks (in the running for best goalkeeper of all time) to Robert Lewandowski, the best out and out striker in world football, Bayern are a team that do not find themselves wanting in squad depth.
Another feature that stands out is how malleable and versatile the squad is.
Joshua Kimmich is the archetypal German footballer, in true Franz Beckenbaur/Lothar Mattheus-esque fashion Kimmich is able to perform at world class standards in anywhere across the back-line or midfield.
Bayern are also proud owners of some of the hardest footballers in Europe in Captain America body double (probably) Leon Goretzka and the enormous Javi Martinez and Niklas Sule.
Contrast this with Douglas Costa and Leroy Sane who happen to be able to turn the best full-backs inside out at breakneck speed and add a trio* of World Cup winners in Benjamin Pavard, Kingsley Coman and Corentin Tolisso and it starts to become slightly unfair.
Remember one day we woke up to discover that Serge Gnabry had become world class and caused thousands of Arsenal fans to grumble into their overpriced season tickets? I’m sure Bayern do, considering the vital importance of his latter stage Champions League goals.
Another mightily impressive aspect of Bayern’s ascension is their nearly flawless combination of recruitment and youth systems.
With Jerome Boateng’s powers waning ever so slightly and David Alaba moving centrally in a more prominent leadership role, a new left back seemed in order.
It just so happened that a young man from Canada showing astonishing feats of athleticism and a mature “football IQ” or whatever pretentious people call it, emerged. Alphonso Davies has been a superstar in his short time with Bayern thus far, finding himself in the FIFA team of the year.
Finally it would be ludicrous not to mention the – um – eccentric Thomas Muller and how his simple, swiss-army-knife attacking threat has been a huge part of Bayern’s recent dominance. Coming (perhaps) towards the twilight of his career it is – as always – important to look to the future.
This season has seen (you guessed it) the emergence of another starlet who can play a number of positions across attacking midfield just in the nick of time. 17 year-old Jamal Musiala has already got himself on the scoresheet several times this season, giving Jude Bellingham competition in the niche but encouraging ‘England qualified wunderkind playing at top German side’ weight category.
To conclude, Bayern Munich are quite good and I think they will win a lot of things this season.
Ps. with regards to the title, I would like to apologise to everyone involved at Bayern Munich for when they inevitably lose their next match after publication.
*on further research Lucas Hernandez was also part of this squad, Jesus.
Michael Vince on Sport 