A midfield dilemma
Right now, Bayern’s midfield is on fire. In the current midfield setup, there is no number ten. Normally, that would be Thomas Muller or Philippe Coutinho, but due to the injuries to the wingers, Muller has been playing on the right, and Coutinho has been relegated to the bench. Serge Gnabry has been making appearances off the bench since returning from injury, and Kingsley Coman has just started training with the first-team training, so it raises the question, what happens to the midfield when everyone is fit?
Bayern has been playing with two center midfielders and a defensive midfielder. Thomas Muller has surprisingly found his old goal-scoring field playing as a right-winger. He has been in great form, scoring lots of goals, and of course, setting up goals for other players, so does he get benched when Gnabry is fully fit?
On the other hand, Joshua Kimmich has been rock-solid as a defensive midfielder, with Thiago and Goretzka contributing in the attack. It’s a great problem to have, but when the games get tougher, and more importantly, you want your best players in their best form. Right now, the current midfield setup provides the right balance, and all midfielders are in good form. So maybe, you don’t change this lineup, but Gnabry offers the team pace and elite dribbling ability, so Hansi Flick will soon have a good selection headache.
Despite the poor quality of opponent (no offense to Hertha Berlin, Schalke, and Mainz), Bayern has been impressive. Leipzig visits Allianz Arena next weekend, so Flick may have to make some tough decisions. Does that mean this current lineup will be used, or will Gnabry make a return to the starting XI, and a midfielder is dropped to make space for him? This is something to keep an eye on.