Bayern Munich is slowly integrating Marc Roca in first team
Hansi Flick reveals reasons behind Marc Roca’s lack of playing time at Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick has been smartly navigating through a busy schedule since the second international break of the season. The German manager is giving an ample amount of rest to senior players to avoid injuries due to fatigue. Moreover, freshening up the lineup also avoids sluggish performances.
In the midfield department, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka are the first choice players for Flick since the departure of Thiago Alcantara in the summer. The German duo brings balance in the center of the park and allows Die Roten to dominate the opposition.
After the German duo, Corentin Tolisso has emerged as an important midfield player for Rekordmeister. The French international is getting back to his best after struggling for form in the past couple of seasons. Javi Martinez is becoming an option from the bench for Flick when the team is looking to see out the game.
Along with these four midfielders, Bayern also bought Marc Roca from Espanyol during the summer transfer window. The Spanish midfielder has only featured against FC Duren in DFB Pokal, remaining unused substitute in the last four games. Speaking to Kicker this week, Flick urged fans to be patient about Roca as he is planning to slowly integrate him into the first team.
"“You need a bit of time to get to know how things work. He’s very hard-working, has a very good professional attitude, that’s very positive. We haven’t had the situation to integrate him yet. We didn’t have many training sessions with the full squad.”“You need to practice things. It’s easier for the attacking players because you need individual quality there.”"
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Roca was one of the key transfer targets for Bayern in 2019, but the club couldn’t reach an agreement with Espanyol. Since Espanyol got relegated to the second division in Spain, Die Roten had much better leverage to get Roca for a much lesser fee this summer.
The Spanish midfielder has been one of the most impressive central midfielders in La Liga during the last two seasons. However, moving to a new country and league often forces young players to take some time to adapt. Roca has previously insisted that he has admired Bundesliga for a long time, so he will be patient to get a run of games in the first team.
The former Espanyol midfielder is likely to deputise Kimmich in the midfield. He was playing in a deeper role for Espanyol, so Die Roten is also likely to play him in that position. Since Kimmich can also play as a number eight, Flick may pair him with Roca later in the season.
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The presence of Javi Martinez in the squad will also help Roca to settle in Germany. Martinez was close to leaving the club in summer, but a move to Athletic Bilbao never materialized. Roca is a player for the future, so his lack of playing time should not become a concern as of now.