Things aren’t quite going according to plan for FC Bayern at the start of the season. Luis Diaz sees room for improvement—both for himself and for the team.
FC Bayern has won five of its six competitive matches so far and dropped points only in the 0-0 draw at Schalke. Nevertheless, no one at Säbener Straße is completely satisfied with the team’s current level of performance. Following Harry Kane and Aleksandar Pavlovic, Luis Diaz is now also speaking self-critically.
In an interview with Sky, the Colombian made it clear that the Munich team still has room for improvement: “We’re not yet at the level we were at—but we have everything we need to have an even more successful season!”
Diaz is echoing the sentiments of several of his teammates following the hard-fought 2–1 victory over SV Elversberg. Kane had also recently emphasized that the team had not yet reached its peak level. After the match, coach Vincent Kompany criticized the team’s slow start in particular and explained that his squad had been “mentally a step too slow.”
Diaz, too, is still searching for his top form.
However, the 29-year-old’s comments can also be applied to his personal situation. Diaz was one of Bayern’s key players last season. So far at the start of the new season, he has lacked his usual ease, particularly when it comes to finishing.
In the 0-0 draw at Schalke, the winger failed to capitalize on several good opportunities. Even in the 5-0 win against Bodo/Glimt, he failed to register a point despite creating dangerous chances. In Elversberg, Diaz started on the bench for the first time this season.
After coming on as a substitute, he immediately had a great chance to make it 2-1. Instead of finishing decisively himself or passing to the unmarked Kane, Diaz tried to beat goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof with a backheel. The carelessly squandered opportunity visibly annoyed Kane and Josip Stanisic.
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Kompany, however, is demonstratively standing by his attacking player. “It’s all about finishing. His energy creates danger time and again. You have to earn those chances first, and he does that repeatedly with his deep runs and his activity,” the Bayern coach explained after the match.
Max Eberl also sees this primarily as a temporary slump. The sporting director recently emphasized that Diaz currently lacks the necessary momentum, but expressed confidence that he will break out of his slump again.