Franck Ribery has a "secret" return timeline but it doesn't make a ton of sense

In the past week, Franck Ribery has made some major strides, first graduating to rehabbing boots to full ball practice in said boots. With fitness drills already in the regimen and this ability, soon Bayern Munich will have their mercurial winger back.

According to publication Sport1, these strides have caused Bayern to put together "a secret comeback plan" that will have Ribery set to return in mid-December for either the Ingolstadt home match or the third round of the DFB Pokal against SV Darmstadt. The home crowd (and probably the fact that either team should in theory be a puffball for Bayern Munich to whomp on) will be a good self-confidence boost for Ribery after his long absence.

Though there's a pretty big catch: why rush him? Ribery's injury woes were pretty thoroughly documented by the media and even though we still don't know what the underlying cause of his injury was, it's pretty safe to say it wasn't something anyone should be messing around with. So why push for Ribery to be back for Matchday 16 or the midweek against Darmstadt given that the next weekend is the final weekend of the Hinrunde. Push him to return for potentially two-to-three matches against Ingolstadt, Darmstadt, and Hannover only to send him on vacation for two weeks and recall him for winter training camp?

If there's a player who doesn't need to be eased back into this team, it's Franck Ribery. The idea of a home crowd booster doesn't make a ton of sense. Ribery's been an amazing player for too long and he's seamlessly slotted in to great effect at every return from injury he's made the last few years. Keep him training, and if he's 100% ready let him come back whenever that is, but he shouldn't come back because of some psychological home crowd boost.