FC Bayern can look back on a successful start to the season so far after beating VfL Wolfsburg 2-0. Nevertheless, the first home win of the still young season also revealed the first weaknesses in Bayern’s style of play. We provide you with three insights into the duel against Wolfsburg.
Even though Bayern won their first three competitive games of the new season with ease, yesterday’s home game against Wolves showed at times that FCB still have a few things to do.
1. Wolfsburg reveals possible weaknesses in Munich’s game system
In the first quarter of an hour in particular, the wolves showed how Julian Nagelsmann’s style of play can be stopped: after aggressive ball wins in midfield, VfL increasingly played long balls to their incoming offensive players. The fast outside player Omar Marmoush, who had great speed advantages in particular against Benjamin Pavard, was preferred. Due to these long balls, the German record champions did not get into their usual counter-pressing. Goal scorer Thomas Müller also stated this after the game at DAZN: “Wolfsburg played long balls very early on, so we didn’t get into our pressing.”
With a few tactical instructions from the sidelines, Nagelsmann was able to make adjustments during the game so that FC Bayern could play their usual game after the playfully shaky opening quarter of an hour, which resulted in Jamal Musiala’s opening goal in the 33rd minute.
2. Davies makes Bayern’s offensive game even more variable
Alphonso Davies is back in top form! After the Canadian had to contend with a number of health setbacks last season, Davies is physically in top form again after the good preparation for the season.
In yesterday’s game in particular, Davies showed how important he can be for Bayern’s attacking game. Against low-lying wolves, the Canadian repeatedly offered himself as another pass on the left offensive side, so that the Munich game gained additional breadth. The 21-year-old was also enthusiastic about the game and left some green opponents standing with the ball and increasingly dribbled the ball into the center of the game, where he did the important preparatory work for Bayern’s opening goal by Jamal Musiala in the 33rd minute.
A strong Davies makes the Munich offensive game even better.
3. Bayern can also use the “administration mode”
“The second half was a lot about management, lots of possession and control, which we didn’t always do well last year because we always received a lot of counterattacks during that phase,” Julian Nagelsmann summed up the second half at the final press conference the encounter.
Managing a result so that the zero is in the back has not been the case for the record champions for a long time. Nagelsmann’s team last won in mid-April in Bielefeld without conceding a goal (0:3 in Bielefeld). In particular, defensive stability was the big problem child at FC Bayern last year. This susceptibility was also seen again recently at the Supercup in Leipzig, where the record champions almost gave up a 3-0 lead again.
Successful football also includes managing a score confidently and playing it down.