Four goals unanswered in the second half by Nicolas Jackson, Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala, and Harry Kane made Bayern Munich's great escape at Mainz in the latest Bundesliga matchday.
The introduction of starters in the second half flipped the script for Bayern. Musiala and Olise wreaked havoc on Mainz's backline, while Kane was clinical per usual to claim the match-winning goal.
However, this victory papers over a looming crack for Bayern Munich: squad depth.
Despite being one of the most dominant sides in football at the moment, Bayern has an extremely thin squad in terms of quality.
The club has been lucky this season with the players' fitness levels. The deadly trio Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise have all been relatively injury-free.
At no particular point this season has Bayern seen all players in one position going down with injuries. Yes, Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Ito were hurt going into the year, but Josip Stanisic, Konrad Laimer and Tom Bischof were all healthy to fill in the void.
When Konrad Laimer and Josip Stanisic suffered injuries in February, Ito and Davies were already playing at a relatively decent level. However, this is more or less a miracle occurrence for Bayern Munich, with most of the core players intact heading into the final stage of the season. Bayern did not have that luck when Musiala and Davies missed the Champions League quarterfinals last year.
With such high-intensity games in three competitions after a short summer, injuries and fatigue are bound to happen. Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, and Tom Bischof are among the key Bayern players currently on the sidelines due to injuries.
Lack of sharpness and experience cost Bayern in first half against Mainz
Without these players to rotate in Bundesliga games, Vincent Kompany had to rely on fringe players like Raphael Guerreiro and young players who barely trained with the first team, like Bara Sapoko Ndiaye.
This issue was clearly shown in the first half against Mainz when the players looked lost and out of touch. Aleksandar Pavlovic and Luis Diaz were absolutely harmless without the proper creators on the pitch.
The team could not string up a proper buildup due to the lack of cohesion and familiarity. As a result, Bayern conceded three goals in the first half, with two caused by turnovers and Mainz's counters.
Not to mention, Diaz looked exhausted after having to start almost the entire season without having a proper backup.
With Raphael Guerreiro, Leon Goretzka, and Nicolas Jackson leaving Bayern this summer, Max Eberl and Christoph Freund will have a tall task at hand to create a competent and deep squad rotation for Kompany going into next season. This is not a knock on the three aforementioned players. On most occasions this year, these players have looked out of depth and not up to Bayern standards, being part of the reasons they were let go.
There are a few positions Bayern needs to address this summer to solve this problem: a backup left winger, striker, centre midfielder, and fullbacks. Having said that, it is unlikely that there will be six or seven players coming in. Utility players who can play multiple positions, like Anthony Gordon, should be high on the transfer wishlist.
A hectic summer of football is coming with the World Cup in North America, where Diaz, Olise, Kimmich, and Kane will all have to suit up. Another short preseason for the players means the board should spend more time preparing for their potential absence and load management next season.
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