Celebrations from Bayern Munich after 4-1 win over Greuther Furth were cut short as an official statement from the team announced that Thomas Muller has tested positive for COVID-19. The results came back from the latest round of team testing on Monday, February 21.
However, Bayern fans around the world can breathe a sigh of relief as Muller is doing well and experiencing no symptoms. Unfortunately, he will be forced to quarantine away from the team for the following seven days, which will mean Muller will be sidelined for this weekend’s matchup against Eintracht Frankfurt.
This news puts Julian Nagelsmann and company in a complicated situation as to how he is going to fill the gaping hole that Thomas Muller will leave in the starting XI. Not only the team will miss the support and creative genius of Muller, but Nagelsmann will also lose out on the current acting captain of the team (taken over for the injured Manuel Neuer).
After players reportedly voiced concern about the recent tactical setup, Nagelsmann faces the challenge of finding the right balance in the team against Frankfurt without the presence of Muller. Here are the best options that Nagelsmann can explore.
Stick with a 4-2-3-1
The best option in my opinion is to play the standard Bayern Munich 4-2-3-1. Marc Roca can enter the holding midfield spot next to Joshua Kimmich, which will allow Kimmich to play a little higher up the field. To fill in Muller’s attacking midfield role, there are three options to choose from.
The favorite would be to start the youngster Jamal Musiala and play the likes of Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry on the wings. Option two is to play Leroy Sane in the middle, which is where he has found himself in the last three games.
Option three would be to start Eric Choupo-Moting behind the striker and subsequently start Sane on the right over Gnabry to make up for any pace that Choupo-Moting might lack. Even though there is no Muller, this is a formation that the reigning champions used every game last season. A familiar formation will help the players to easily adjust.
Switch to back five
Nagelsmann has lately fielded a back five, which actually lead to quite a bit of success. Playing Coman and Gnabry as unconventional wingbacks would allow for mass amounts of space for the two attacking midfielders to really open up the field (in this case it would be Sane and Musiala). In addition to the defensive struggles that Bayern have been experiencing, running with five-at-the-back might give them a slight boost of confidence, especially if they manage to keep a clean sheet.
Whichever direction Julian Nagelsmann decides to go with Bayern Munich, this Eintracht Frankfurt matchup on Saturday will be an interesting one, especially since the German Champions were defeated 2-1 in their earlier matchup this season.