Bayern Munich: Takeaways from draw against Werder Bremen

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Hansi Flick needs a better plan B at Bayern Munich. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) /

Bayern needs better plan B instead of aimless crossing

Werder Bremen didn’t allow Bayern to progress the play with vertical passes. The visitors suffocated Die Roten forwards by being tight towards them and giving them very little room to play those dangerous passes. As a courtesy of this approach from Bremen, the hosts were moving the ball sideways.

The German Champions also started spamming crosses in the box when they were finding it difficult to break down Bremen. After an injury to Lucas Hernandez early in the game, David Alaba moved into the left-back position. The Austrian defender attempted 11 crosses in the box, but only two of these crosses were accurate. On the other flank, Benjamin Pavard attempted six crosses with not a single cross meeting a Bayern player.

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In the front three, Douglas Costa was whipping dangerous and fast crosses. However, these crosses were hardly met by other forwards. The Brazilian ended up with eight crosses in 60 mins with a 25% accuracy. All these poor crosses made Bremen’s job easy while defending in the low block. (Stats courtesy: Whoscored)

Flick decided to utilize this crossing by having two strikers upfront. He introduced Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting at the hour mark. After his introduction, Robert Lewandowski dropped a deeper, which didn’t give the advantage to Die Roten when full-backs were crossing. They were becoming predictable in the attack, allowing Bremen to win the ball easily and initiate attacks. Flick needs a much better plan B when things are not going Bayern’s way.