Bayern Munich: David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich could be key for Kovac

Full-backs David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich could play huge roles for Bayern Munich under Niko Kovac next season.

Bayern Munich have only a handful of games remaining with Jupp Heynckes at the managerial helm. The legendary coach is calling it quits once and for all at the end of this campaign. His successor, Niko Kovac (who will also fittingly be Jupp’s final opponent), will take over the club in the summer and might bring with him a whole new tactical approach to the club.

There’s still much debate on how Kovac will tactically approach his Bayern side. The 46-year-old is relatively inexperienced and doesn’t have too much of a history from which to draw any basis when speculating about how Bayern Munich will line up under his guidance. However, there are some clues that may point to a tactical change in Bavaria.

A 3-4-1-2 or 3-1-4-2, perhaps?

At his current club, Eintracht Frankfurt, Kovac has often deployed a 3-4-1-2 or 3-1-4-2 formation. Whether he’s simply chosen this formation because it best suits his players or for some other reason remains an unanswered question. Regardless, he’s found much success with this approach.

There’s no guarantee Kovac will opt to stick with this formation in Munich. It’s perhaps most likely he’ll experiment with a few different tactical approaches at his new club. But there’s certainly a good chance he sticks with his tried and true formation at Bayern.

As Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben continue to decline, the club is faced with the task of planning for life without the aging duo. Although Kingsley Coman (and maybe even Serge Gnabry) serves as a ready made replacement on the wing, recent reports suggest the club is not interested in signing another wide player this summer. Robbery, Coman and Gnabry are enough, according to the Bayern board.

Maybe, though, this isn’t an indication of Bayern’s lack of ambition going forward, but rather a hint that Kovac does, in fact, plan on utilizing a three/five-at-the-back formation at Bayern after all.

These formations focus less on traditional wingers and more on wing-backs. Although it may seem counter to Bayern’s typical modus operandi, playing without wingers could be exactly what Kovac visions for the future of the club. And, honestly, it might not be the worst idea. Perhaps the next “Robbery” comes not in the form of two specialist wingers, but in two hard-working, dynamic wing-backs.

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Enter David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich

Munich happens to be home to two of the most talented full-backs in the world in David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich. Though hardly played as wing-backs in a 3-4-1-2 or a similar formation, their roles at Bayern Munich are not much different.

On top of their defensive responsibilities, Alaba and Kimmich are expected to push high up the pitch, overlapping with their wingers and adding an extra level of width. They’re not only both comfortable going forward, but they’re actually better in attack than they are in defense anyway.

Joshua Kimmich, in particular, has proved to be a huge offensive threat on multiple occasions. He has 6 goals and 13 assists to his name across all competitions this season. With 10 Bundesliga assists, he’s tied with playmaker James Rodriguez for third in the league, only behind fellow full-back Philipp Max and teammate Thomas Muller (both on 12). That’s an impressive number for any player, nevermind a defender!

David Alaba, as well, has shown an attacking prowess that supercedes his defensive skill. The Austrian has an exceptional long shot, can deliver a solid cross and is pretty tricky with the ball at his feet, capable of blowing past an opposition defender.

Both players have also, meanwhile, spent significant portions of their career in midfield and are more than comfortable in the opponent’s third of the pitch.

With three top level center-backs behind them, Alaba and Kimmich would be expected to do slightly less defensive work and given more freedom to storm forward and be instrumental in attack, where they are most effective. Although they’d no longer have true wingers to overlap with, their teammates would be expected to move in a way that doesn’t completely isolate them on the wing.

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Right now, nobody knows what tactical approach Kovac will take at Bayern Munich, maybe not even the man himself. Recent comments about the board’s reluctance to add depth on the wings, though, could be a sign of Kovac’s preference for a three/five-at-the-back formation and his intention to use that at Bayern. If so, he already has the perfect players to storm up and down the wings in David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich.