The Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain has triggered a new discussion at FC Bayern about the quality and structure of the squad. Oliver Kahn in particular sees a central weakness in the current Munich team – and draws an interesting comparison with former Bayern star Thiago
For Oliver Kahn, one of the key differences to the European top flight currently lies at the heart of Bayern’s game. In an interview with Sky, the former board boss of the record champions made it clear that FC Bayern lack a special type of player in midfield. „The types of players in Bayern’s midfield – with Leon Goretzka, Aleks Pavlovic and Joshua Kimmich – are very similar in nature,“ explained Kahn
Although this could work in principle, the team currently lacks a player with exceptional technical ability and creative solutions under pressure
The former world-class keeper drew a direct comparison with Thiago Alcántara, who had a decisive influence on Bayern’s game between 2013 and 2020: „We always asked ourselves the question back then with Thiago, who in my view was a very important factor because he was completely different,“ Kahn emphasized
The 56-year-old particularly emphasized his technical quality: „That special technique, playing off opponents, those exceptional passes. This type of player is currently missing.“
Kahn assumes that those in charge at Säbener Straße are looking closely at precisely this issue: „I can well imagine that those in charge are thinking about this and that they would like to have such a midfielder back in the squad in the future.“
„This discussion has always been going on“
In addition to the discussion about the midfield, Kahn also commented on FC Bayern’s squad structure in general
Especially after the semi-final defeat to PSG, people are increasingly questioning whether Munich have enough quality across the board compared to the absolute top teams such as Paris or Arsenal
However, Kahn sees this not only as a sporting question, but above all as a philosophical one. „This discussion has always been going on: is FC Bayern’s squad – especially with regard to the bench – too thin?“, explained the former Bayern boss
At the same time, he pointed to the enormous financial power of other top European clubs: „If you look at what Arsenal can bring in, players come off the bench for 70, 80 or 100 million euros.“
For FC Bayern, however, the economic balance must always be taken into account. „The club’s philosophy has always been to achieve a positive balance at the end of the year and not to take excessive risks,“ Kahn clarified
In his view, this results in a fundamental conflict of objectives: „If Bayern start to fill the bench with 100 million players, you no longer need to talk about the development of young players. The places are then taken.“
Kahn made it clear that the record champions would have to make a clear long-term decision on which path to take: „Either I consistently pursue the idea of integrating young players like Lennart Karl, or I fill the bench with players worth several hundred million euros. That is a clear philosophical decision.“
Especially after the bitter defeat to PSG, these questions are likely to occupy FC Bayern intensively in the coming weeks and months.