Curious case of João Palhinha at Bayern Munich

Struggles at Center-back

Concerning the performances of Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae, on the surface, there appears to have been marginal individual improvements to date when compared to last season. However, based on how Bayern has conceded goals, quite often against the run-of-play, there still appears to be a lack of cohesion between the Frenchman and the South Korean defender. Whether that is down to the high-risk/high-reward system implemented by the coach or the unsuitability of the players themselves is still up for debate. Nonetheless, Kompany has to find a way to mitigate his team’s vulnerability to counter-attacks.

One way to address that vulnerability may be to use Palhinha as the designated holding midfielder to shield the center-backs with Pavlović and Kimmich playing ahead of him in what would be a 4-3-3 formation as opposed to the current 4-2-3-1 formation. The drawback to such a tweak in the formation would of course result in sacrificing one of the three attackers that currently play just behind lone striker Harry Kane.

Squad Rotation

Without any tweaks to the formation, Palhinha will likely have to wait a while for the opportunity to show his worth. With Bayern competing for trophies on all fronts, which includes the revamped Champions League and Club World Cup, squad rotation will be necessary to avoid burnout and mitigate the chances of injury. Courtesy of the cramped schedule, Palhinha will eventually get his chance to shine.

For now, Palhinha is saying all the right things to the press, showing a great level of patience. Similarly, Bayern chiefs continue to express belief in the Portuguese international. However, if either of those scenarios changes, questions will arise as to whether or not Palhinha was really needed at Bayern.