Who are Bayern Munich now? Robert Lewandowski’s imminent exit raises identity question
The art of the hitter includes timing. Nearly no one is as adept at timing their entry into the penalty area as Robert Lewandowski. He was frequently the first to the ball, but recently, he was reportedly the last to arrive for practice, arriving three days in a row.
A striker who was pouting appeared to be making a statement. It got attention. A contract was reached, Bayern Munich announced the next day. Lewandowski will join one of Barcelona's worst teams in the last 40 years.Not that he would say it that way, perhaps. But if Bayern Munich's reputation as a destination club is threatened when talismans move to Spain's powerhouse, as Lewandowski has done by joining Real Madrid this year, it signals they may grow weary of dominating the Bundesliga.
To strengthen a forward line that will soon be without Lewandowski and a defense where Alaba and Niklas Sule both left on free transfers in back-to-back summers, the summer signings Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt have a significance that goes beyond the addition of an attacker.The opinions of Bayern president Herbert Hainer regarding the Senegalese were insightful. Sadio Mane is a global superstar who highlights FC Bayern's appeal and will raise the appeal of the Bundesliga as a whole, according to him. "Fans visit stadiums to watch such players,"
Bayern may have diminished the appeal of the Bundesliga with the consistency of their championship victories. However, it was noteworthy that Hainer felt the need to draw attention to Bayern's appeal.It gave the impression that it was in doubt while also feeling rejected by a player who had previously scored more goals for them than Gerd Muller and at a time when Serge Gnabry's future was in question; nevertheless, the winger has since agreed to a new contract.But things at Bayern are odd just now. Change is taking place in the continuity club. There will be a very different vibe without Lewandowski, especially if, as seems possible, a striker with 153 goals at better than an average of one per game in the last three seasons is not replaced, if false nines take over from the most effective No. 9 of his generation. It may be stretching it to call it an identity crisis, but it certainly wasn't enough of one to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. Perhaps some of the change was unavoidable given that Julian Nagelsmann was chosen as the manager.But just two years after Bayern seemed to be a club that could usher in a new era, things appear to be in transition. By winning all of their games, they were the first team to ever win the Champions League in 2020. The historic 8-2 thrashing of Lewandowski's future employers, Barcelona, a 7-1 overall victory over Chelsea, a 7-2 road victory over Tottenham, a 30-game unbeaten streak, and a century of Bundesliga goals were all part of a treble.After two seasons, they were eliminated from the Champions League by Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively. In Lewandowski's eight years, one Champions League victory feels like an underachievement; certainly, one semi-final appearance in the last four is. Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer are still around from the 2013 victory.Bayern appeared to be best positioned to benefit from Real and Barcelona's collapse, but Liverpool has outperformed Bayern while an aging Real has surprise rebounded.
Maybe some of their players felt that a guarantee of domestic success was insufficient. Bayern had an unwelcome reminder that the attractiveness of Spain's duopoly even extended to their stalwarts if they felt trapped by the dilemma that today's successful clubs face in not being able to renew the contracts of all their important players at the appropriate levels.It implies that their hiring serves as both an ego boost and evidence of their pulling power. It has become cliche for them to raid Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in order to crush German opposition, but it has been relatively uncommon for them to sign first-team players from Europe's top division. Since Arturo Vidal joined in 2015, perhaps only Lucas Hernandez from Atletico Madrid and Leroy Sane from Manchester City fit that description. Kingsley Coman was never a regular for Juventus. Sane and Hernandez, in contrast to many of their Bundesliga purchases, have not been a glaring success.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0