After corona chaos at Bayern: is the hour of Früchtl & Co.?

Created: 01/04/2022Updated: 01/04/2022, 1:25 PM

By: Korbinian Kothny

Christian Früchtl (left) and Bright Arrey-Mbi can certainly hope to start the second half of the season on Friday.

© Imago

The start of training for FC Bayern is mixed up by corona infections.

Do the amateurs now have to step in for the professionals?

Munich

- After the first corona shock at FC Bayern, it was time to wait and see.

Yesterday evening the record champions announced that in addition to the already infected Manuel Neuer, Omar Richards, Kingsley Coman and Corentin Tolisso, Tanguy Nianzou and Lucas Hernández were also infected.

With Leroy Sané, Josip Stanišić and Dayot Upamecano, the diagnosis is not yet complete.

Should the infected players fail for the second half of the season against Gladbach on Friday, Julian Nagelsmann will be faced with a real personnel puzzle.

Especially in the position of goalkeeper and on the defensive, the 34-year-old is running out of alternatives.

The chance for some campus talent?

FC Bayern: Früchtl before his first professional appearance in a year and a half?

Manuel Neuer, who also complains of minor side effects, hits the team hard. The captain has played all of the Bundesliga games so far and has given the partly holey defensive hold. In addition, his nominally first representative Sven Ulreich is experiencing a season marked by injuries. In September, the 33-year-old tore his inner ligament and then repeatedly had back problems.

Should Ulreich not be able to play either, Christian Früchtl's big hour would come.

The 21-year-old sat on the record champions' bench for most of the first half of the season because Ulreich was injured.

However, the young goalkeeper lacks match practice, since apart from two appearances in the regional league team, he has not yet played this season.

And last season, Früchtl did not make a professional appearance on his loan to 1. FC Nürnberg.

World goalkeeper Neuer would still have no concerns about a Früchtl mission.

In September he certified that his colleague was “a good goalkeeper”.

Bayern: first Bundesliga appearance for Arrey-Mbi and Lawrence?

In addition to the position of the goalkeeper, the defensive Nagelsmann is probably the main cause of concern. Should Stanišić and Upamecano also fail, the record champions will only have three nominal defenders left on Friday, as Bouna Sarr is currently preparing for the Africa Cup with Senegal. Benjamin Pavard, Niklas Süle and Alphonso Davies remain. It is quite possible that Nagelsmann will give one or the other defensive player the chance to prove himself on Friday, possibly even from the start.

Especially Bright Arrey-Mbi and Jamie Lawrence should have hopes in this case.

Arrey-Mbi made his professional debut under Hansi Flick last season in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid.

In the current season, the 18-year-old is one of the top performers in the second team.

One of them is also Lawrence's ingrown.

The 19-year-old has already played 20 times in this regional league season.

But he is still waiting for his first professional assignment.

After all, the Munich-born player already played four test games with the professionals in the summer preparation.

It is quite possible that his first appearance in the Bundesliga will follow against Gladbach.

(kk)