When FC Bayern met Eintracht Frankfurt for the last time, Niklas Süle had a problem. The Munich team lost 2-1 in February, and when the small and nimble Amin Younes conceded the goal, the big and powerful defender was fatally close without being able to change a shot at the angle. “He has to push the player out,” criticized Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as Bayern’s chief executive at the time.
When Bayern play against Frankfurt again this Sunday, a lot will be different. Younes can no longer score because he no longer runs for Eintracht. Rummenigge is no longer a CEO. And Süle, 26, has been playing a season so far that no longer has much in common with the previous one, which was often problematic for him. In the scenes in which he stands out, he is usually the protagonist himself. Sometimes he strokes the ball almost like a small and nimble player in a large and massive body. Rather, it stands for the fact that you hardly notice any problems that an opponent like Frankfurt could uncover.
In the summer, Süle’s role in the Bayern defense seemed to amount to a supporting actor
The defender has already spoken about Frankfurt, his homeland, during the week, at least that’s how coach Julian Nagelsmann quoted him. “Niki said it was all family from Frankfurt,” said the coach in the press conference after the 5-0 win in the Champions League against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, when he was asked about the scenes in the stadium after the final whistle that the defender was likely to see were almost a bit embarrassed. “Süüüle! Süüüle” was what an audible part of the fans called out when the team did their lap of honor. After the fans had cheered on Leroy Sané, who had been booing a month ago and had been strong for weeks, during the game, they demonstrated their sensitivity a second time.
In the summer, Süle’s role in the Bayern defense seemed to amount to a supporting actor. He not only had a season after a cruciate ligament rupture with form fluctuations, but also a European Championship as a substitute player behind him. On the other hand, Lucas Hernández was injured. And when the coaching team changed in Munich, Süle met two of his former supporters at TSG Hoffenheim, from whom he moved to Munich in 2017: Nagelsmann and his assistant coach Xaver Zembrod, who once went from “Zehner” to defender in the B-youth retrain. Since the start of the season, he has been in the starting line-up in nine out of ten competitive games.
Why not shoot yourself at the goal? Niklas Süle has become more self-confident under Julian Nagelsmann.
(Photo: Andreas Gebert / Reuters)
Nagelsmann’s influence on Bayern’s start to the season with nine competitive game wins in a row can be seen in many ways. But he is particularly evident in the defense, which conceded numerous goals after the counterattack in the preseason. Bayern conceded only two goals in the past seven games. Süle usually ensured stability as a central defender. Even in the preseason under Hansi Flick, he sometimes played as a right-back and caused astonishment with his dribbles. When he played on the right again against Kiev, he also stood for the variability so often emphasized by Nagelsmann.
Süle’s contract expires in the summer, and there has always been speculation about a separation
For the left wing, the Munich team have a strong attacking full-back in Alphonso Davies, there is basically no counterpart on the right in the squad. But the way Bayern built their game on Wednesday, it was hardly noticeable – and on the contrary emphasized many strengths. While Davies was to be found on the left as so often at winger height (which gives Sané the opportunity to move to the center), Süle on the right did not occupy the wing, but ran diagonally towards the penalty area inwards and thus opened the pass path to the right Wing attacker Serge Gnabry. Süle shot dangerously on goal himself twice. And the 2-0 he initiated with a ball win in the opposing half, when he closed the middle as a kind of third “six”. Nagelsmann also wants to see that, the better positioning in own ball possession in the event of a ball loss.
“He still has an incredible number of steps so that, if everything goes normally, you won’t recognize Niki in three or four months as he was six months ago,” Nagelsmann recently said about Süle. The defender was recently also in conversation because in the course of an advisory dispute, chat messages from him were made public, which suggested that he wanted to leave the club annoyed in 2019. His contract expires in the summer, and there has always been speculation about a separation. But there is more talk of his possible future in the club again. He belongs to the national team of 1995, like Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, who have already extended their contracts. And like Serge Gnabry, who is said to be supposed to sign a new contract soon.
And Süle? Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said to the chants on Wednesday that the fans had shown “that they want him to remain a Bayern player”.