New Delhi: Bayern Munich’s 11-year streak of being Bundesliga champion ended with Bayer Leverkusen winning their first title ever. They were rather unimpressive to the standards that they had set for themselves. This was the first season since 2011-12 that the club failed to win a single trophy. It is a new season with new hopes, and Bayern will be revving to get back to winning ways.
Bayern’s most significant change this season is the arrival of Vincent Kompany, who replaces Thomas Tuchel after an underwhelming one-season as the club’s manager. Bayern has been busy during the transfer period. The club felt that few players lacked intensity last season after a decade of success, so Bayern have been busy in the transfer period. One of their greatest assets is English captain Harry Kane, who was the leading goal scorer of the tournament and will hope to finally get hands-on silverware in his career.
Tactical prospects for the 2024-25 season
MUNICH, GERMANY – AUGUST 12: Head coach Vincent Kompany of FC Bayern Muenchen gestures during a training session at on August 12, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by M. Donato/FC Bayern via Getty Images)
Bayern will deploy a new tactical plan when Kompany takes the team to the pitch. Despite Kompany’s previous side Burnely being relegated from the Premier League, his tactics for promoting the club from the Championship in the campaign before. The former Hamburg centre-back will be familiar with the challenges in Germany. Kompany prefers a possession-based formation attacking style and prefers good partnership with a centre-back with no back threes.
To start with, Kompany has one of the most gifted sides in the world right now, but it is how he uses it that ultimately matters. Tuchel had used a 4-2-3-1 formation, putting Harry at the point of the layout. The English captain returned good returns with a league-high 36 goals in the season and eight more in Bayern Munich’s UEFA Champions League 2024 semi-final finish.
Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, and Thomas Muller were the most used players behind Kane in the final third, and each had a high number of goal involvements. With Serge Gnarby and Kingsley Coman marred by recurring injuries, the club was often without their services. However, Mathys Tel has been a positive find for the club, with his six of ten goals coming off the bench, proving his reputation.
Tuchel left the club, having given quite a few youngsters, including Tel and Aleksandar Pavlovic, a chance to be in the playing XI. The centre-back position seemed least certain last season, with Matthijs de Ligt, Eric Dier, Dayot Upamecano, and Min-Jae Kim regularly trying in the position. Kompany can hopefully solve this issue by being a central-back, although De Ligt has left for Manchester United alongside full-back Noussair Mazaraoui.
In Burnely, Kompany mostly favoured a 4-4-2 formation, finding decent success. However, he may revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation here in the Bundesliga. It is a formation that Bayern is more familiar with, and had been quite a successful unit with it in the 2022-23 season. Last season, Thomas Muller and Jamal Musiala, who both prefer the no. 10 position, had to be accommodated in the same position. With a 4-4-2 formation, the duo can be easily used in the same position and will make the side a dangerous force.
Transfer Analysis
MUNICH, GERMANY – AUGUST 20: Michael Olise of FC Bayern Muenchen looks on during the Preseason Friendly match between FC Bayern München and Grashoppers Zürich at FCB Campus on August 20, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)
Bayern have been updating their side during the summer transfer window. After a decade of being reigning champions, Bayern needed a side hungry to win the Bundesliga title. Eric Dier is coming on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur. They will also see Michael Olise come from the Crystal Palace side. Joao Palhinha is joining Bayern from Fulham, while Japanese defender Hiroki Ito will join the side from VFB Stuttgart.
Josip Stanisic had arrived from defending champions Bayer Leverkusen after a successful loan stint but has been ruled out of the tournament owing to a knee injury. Another young prospect coming to the side with a new deal is Arijon Ibrahimovic, who joined the side before pre-season training.
Bayern are also bidding farewells to some of their best players, with Bouna Sarr and Eric-Maxim’s contracts not being renewed at the end of their duration. Mazraoui and De Ligt have both left the side to join United. Attacking midfielder Malik Tillman has moved to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. Goalkeeper Johannes Schenk is also leaving the side to participate in the Bundesliga 2 competition.
Early Predictions
Munich have been in a dangerous form in the pre-season friendlies. They have addressed issues in the back room and have a new manager at the helm with whom the players have so far worked well. They are likely to win the Bundesliga for the 33rd time. They must defy some odds to be dominant again in the UEFA Champions League and need to bring back their attacking instinct that had previously won them the coveted trophy.
After being without a single silverware last season for the first time in 12 years, Bayern Munich look like a strong side this season. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
