Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern-Düsseldorf and Xabi Alonso celebrates his 37th birthday

Die Folgen: Bayern vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich’s immensely disappointing - and frankly shocking - draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf left nearly every Bayern fan stunned. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• The draw was essentially a loss. There is no way to sugarcoat that performance.
• The defensive corps was undisciplined and sloppy; a virtual Cirque de Center Back if you will. Niklas Süle contributed a goal, but was wildly inconsistent otherwise. Jerome Boateng, was truly a mess. True, he did have a fantastic assist on Thomas Muller’s first goal, but this was one of the truly horrendous performances that Boateng has ever had.
• The defensive lapses have been prevalent of late and it is a dire situation which Niko Kovač must address. Whether he tactically forces his defenders to sit back or he just opts to bring up the likes of Lars Lukas Mai or Chris Richards to push the veterans, Kovač must find a way to reach his veteran defenders.
• Muller was fantastic. The Raumdeuter was at his best in both finding and creating space, while powering the offense. If there was any criticism you could lay on the Bavarian (because it seems like no one can ever compliment Muller without tossing some shade) it was that he was still a bit too unselfish. If Muller can consistently provide the effort he did yesterday (he has been far better this season than his critics let on), the Bayern offense will get back to being fluid and dangerous on a consistent basis.

• Can we stop with moving Joshua Kimmich to midfield? Let’s just keep him at right back while there are so many issues on the back line.
• Javi Martinez was a complete and utter non-factor. He has been decent of late, but this was not a good performance.
• A big story of the game was Robert Lewandowski’s inability to finish. I’m not ready to throw dirt on the Polish Hitman’s grave, though. He’s got plenty left in the tank. It was an off game, but let’s not forget he was one of the few bright spots in the Der Klassiker loss.

If you missed our Match Awards or Observations, please give them a look.

Xabi Alonso celebrates his 37the birthday today (@IntChampionsCup)

A call for fan groups (BavarianFootballWorks.com)

We are trying something here at the Daily Schmankerl and need YOUR help. If you read my man Tommy Adams’ piece about his experience with the FCBNYC Fan Club (if you haven’t, SHAME ON YOU!), you could see how great the event was. So we want to highlight some of these wonderful groups that are out there globally and this is what we need from you:

• Name of the group
• Location
• Year founded
• Leadership (if you have people are kind of running the show)
• Meeting place
• Social media handles
• Pictures

We want to be able to feature a different fan group every week this season. Maybe we can do it, maybe not...but only YOU can help decide the fate of this idea. Send your info to: barrelsportsblog@gmail.com