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Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann takes his defender Niklas Süle off the field
Photo: THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
The biggest pessimists among Bayern fans could also argue as follows after the final whistle of the Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday: their star striker Robert Lewandowski has been without a goal for 86 minutes, and the team has not had a goal for 53 minutes can cheer.
And then the second half was lost against Bayer Leverkusen!
However, there shouldn't be many who left the Bundesliga game with such feelings, after all, Bayern had won the top game against the pursuers from Leverkusen 5-1 and scored four goals in seven minutes, and Lewandowski had already met shortly after kick-off .
In view of the course of the game, the Leverkusen team was granted grace after the break, also in the form of substitutions.
Alphonso Davies even had to leave the pitch in the 40th minute, Leon Goretzka was allowed out at the break, Lewandowski and Thomas Müller in the 64th minute.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann gradually took the first team off the field.
Six Bavarians always play
The concept of the first eleven fits no more with today's football than that of the tea break, because the rotation is praised and emphasized that everyone from number one to number 22 is important.
Julian Nagelsmann certainly sees it that way too.
Still, he often relies on the same players.
With goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Goretzka, Müller and Lewandowski, six Bayern professionals have been in the starting line-up in all eight Bundesliga games to date.
Dayot Upamecano, Niklas Süle, Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry have seven missions from the start.
Lucas Hernández only has five.
However, he was also absent from the first three Bundesliga games due to an injury.
Should Hernández actually have to start the prison sentence imposed on him for disregarding the judiciary, FC Bayern would have to do without him for half a year.
Too many or too few - Nagelsmann's change in focus
Despite the upcoming appeal process, Hernández was in the starting line-up in Leverkusen, which had started in the previous game against Eintracht Frankfurt.
That, in turn, had been changed in one position because Benjamin Pavard saw the red card in the game at SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
Julian Nagelsmann has found his first team and only seems to change them if there is no other way.
"If you bring in new things, you need a certain structure and a trunk that gives stability," said the coach in Leverkusen.
Only "when you have the stability in the processes can you change selectively more".
This could soon be the case, possibly on Wednesday in the Champions League at Benfica Lisbon or on Saturday against TSG Hoffenheim.
At his former club and also at his previous station, RB Leipzig, »I was accused of changing too much.
Now they say I don't change enough, ”said Nagelsmann.
"It is also important to have good jokers"
The memory of his last game with the Leipzigers probably played a role in this answer.
It was the final of the DFB Cup against Borussia Dortmund, which was lost 4-1 after a very weak first half.
Nagelsmann had made personnel and tactical changes that turned out to be bad.
The trainer, who is still only 34 years old, had been heavily criticized for this, a new experience for him.
At Bayern, Nagelsmann relies on the tried and tested, which also largely applies to the occupation of his bank and the substitutions. Marcel Sabitzer, who also moved from Leipzig to Munich, has so far made seven appearances for Munich in the Bundesliga, including none in the starting line-up. Jamal Musiala experienced the kick-off once on the pitch and was substituted on six times. "It's also important to have good jokers," said Nagelsmann, naming Musiala and Kingsley Coman.
In Leverkusen the advantages of a team that has many minutes of competition together on the pitch became apparent.
The combinations ran at a breathtaking pace and with precision, because there was little improvisation.
Nagelsmann wants to see these processes, also in the counter-pressing, which intimidated the Leverkusen-based company, at a consistently high level.
When that is achieved, according to the trainer, there will be “more changes”.
Until then, the first team will play.
