Croatian manager Niko Kovac has urged Bundesliga officials to provide more protection to his Bayern Munich players.
Niko Kovac has enjoyed a fine start to his managerial career at Bayern Munich. The Croatian has already even won his first trophy at the club after an emphatic victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFL Supercup. Bayern are sitting at the top of the Bundesliga table, having won all of their first three Bundesliga matches.
This perfect start to the 2018-19 campaign has also been accompanied with some serious injuries to a few first team players. Kingsley Coman has been ruled out for the remainder of the calendar year after injuring an ankle ligament in the first Bundesliga game of the season. Bayern suffered another big blow this weekend when Corentin Tolisso went down with a torn ACL, which will keep him sidelined for even longer than his compatriot.
Rafinha was also injured against Bayer Leverkusen, but the Brazilian is expected to be back in a few weeks. Speaking recently with Goal, Niko Kovac urged the Bundesliga officials to show more protection for his squad and to issue out more serious punishment for harsh tackles.
"“I’ve always been someone who said that football is a contact sport. It’s part of it, but you also have to watch out for the health of the players.“When it comes down to the bones or joints, you have to find sanctions much earlier – be it yellow cards or more, it cannot be that we’re losing players all the time.”"
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Coman’s injury didn’t force Bayern’s hand in the transfer window, despite what many expected (or hoped). The Frenchman was set to play a decisive role this season as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are probably playing their final season in Bavaria.
Serge Gnabry is likely to get more minutes this season after a very productive loan spell at Hoffenheim last time out. James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller, meanwhile, are also options for the wide positions.
On the other hand, Tolisso’s injury can be easily managed, as Kovac has many midfield options. Bayern Munich sold Sebastian Rudy and Arturo Vidal last month in order to reduce the size of the squad, but Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez and Renato Sanches (along with James and Muller) are more than enough to compensate for Tolisso’s absence.
Rafinha’s injury, however, leaves Bayern with no backup option for David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich. The Bavarians made the choice to sell Juan Bernat this summer and didn’t see fit to bring in a replacement. Kovac will be relieved that Rafinha’s injury is relatively minor and that he will be back in just a few weeks. The Croatian might switch to a three-man defense, though, in order to use one of his wingers as a wingback.
Kovac is surely frustrated with these injuries, but he is confident that the remaining players will step up in the absence of these three players. Bayern Munich are set to play six games in the next three weeks and will need the remaining players to remain fit throughout this busy period.