Bayern Munich: Five things Carlo Ancelotti must do for a successful season

Now entering the first international break, Bayern Munich are well into their new Bundesliga campaign. Here’s five things Carlo Ancelotti must do for this season to be a success.

1) Make Thomas Muller a mainstay in his starting XI

This one’s first because it is arguably the most important. Quite simply, if Bayern Munich are to be successful this season, Carlo Ancelotti must find a way to fit Thomas Muller into his first-choice starting XI. 

Last season, the Raumdeuter spent a serious amount of time on the bench, and rightfully so. 2016 was — in terms of form — possibly the worst year of his career. He could not take a penalty to save his life, his shots simply would not find the back of the net and the space he used to find with such ease seemingly disappeared.

As a result of this, Muller lost his confidence. It was visible nearly every moment he was on the pitch. Rather than taking slightly contested shots that would usually be sure-fire goals, he opted to attempt difficult passes that seldom worked out as planned. He cut his runs short and no longer looked to make himself a goal-scoring threat.

Fortunately, 2017 has been a different story. Ever since January, Thomas Muller has slowly been regaining his form. Despite his paltry goal tally, he finished the ’17-18 season as Die Roten’s top goal-creator, also landing the runner-up spot in the entire Bundesliga with 12 assists.

He carried his good form into this past pre-season, where he was easily his team’s most impressive player. While others looked bereft of ideas and a drive to execute them, Muller led the Bayern attack with aplomb. His chemistry with new signing James Rodriguez was simply brilliant, and he demonstrated both his ability to create and score goals on multiple occasions.

Yet somehow the only Bavarian left in Bayern’s first-team is still finding himself left out of the starting line-up. Dropped for this past weekend’s match, Muller expressed his frustration at being left out. He didn’t just express his desire to play with his words though. He backed it up with his on-field performance, helping to make the difference in the match after being subbed on.

Much of what Muller brings to the team is hard to put into words, but one of the most important aspects of his game is plain to see. When played centrally — either alongside or behind Robert Lewandowski — he has the ability to create space for both himself and others that simply wasn’t there before. Take for example Lewy’s second in this past weekend’s match.

Muller gets open and receives a long-ball from Mats Hummels, which he then plays to Lewandowski. Rather than simply waiting for the ball to be played back, Thomas then makes an incredibly intelligent run, pulling two defenders out of position and making way for Lewandowski to dribble straight through.

Sure, the Pole still had some work to do, but without Muller’s excellent thinking and unselfish play he wouldn’t have even had a chance. The duo play wonderfully well together, and Bayern should never enter a match without their pairing unless it’s because of fitness issues.

Fitting them both into the same formation, however, could cause a real headache for Carlo Ancelotti. Which leads to the next point…