Five Bayern Munich Players that need to Improve in the Ruckrunde

Philippe Coutinho

This was a hard one to choose, but ultimately, I chose Coutinho due to his immense potential. Coming on loan from Barcelona this past summer, the Brazilian was meant to be the game-changing player that would lead Bayern to European glory. Although it has only been five months since he has joined, Coutinho has not lived up to that potential. Niko Kovac used him as a central attacking midfielder, but even with consistent game time, he has not shown enough consistency.

Coutinho has received plenty of game time, 22 matches across all competitions. He has impacted the score sheet with seven goals and seven assists in that time, but for someone who would cost north of €100 million, that isn’t enough. He oftentimes is not impacting games as he should, and all but one of those goals have come against the bottom of the table Bundesliga teams. The seventh goal was against Tottenham Hotspurs after Bayern secured first place in their group stage. Bayern needs Coutinho to step it up against the bigger sides, or else they should decide against signing him permanently.

Part of this issue I imagine is more personal than a lack of actual quality. Moving from teams as culturally different as Bayern and Barcelona is incredibly difficult, and one that takes time to get used to. The winter training sessions will hopefully help Coutinho feel more comfortable and help him build some chemistry with his teammates. If not, Bayern will suffer in the Ruckrunde, and he will not find himself in a Bayern jersey next fall.