FanPost

Post-Hummels Defense: False Alarm or Farce?

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It’s official: Mats Hummels has left Munich for Borussia Dortmund.

The transfer has left fans of both teams split in two. Dortmund supporters are torn between welcoming back a ‘traitor’ and seeing Hummels as a defensive reinforcement, while Bayern supporters are undecided as to whether selling a thirty year old defender for 30 million euros would be a gain or a loss.

Regardless of the money Bayern have gained, the number of center backs in the team remains at three (Niklas Sule, Benjamin Pavard, and Lucas Hernandez), assuming that Jerome Boateng leaves this summer as well. On the surface, this does not seem like the biggest problem, but there could be some underlying consequences.

As we all know, and as a lot of fans have mentioned, Pavard is coming off an uninspiring season with Stuttgart, while Hernandez is recovering from a knee injury that may or may not reoccur in the future. What’s more, both players are not full-time center backs, playing on either side of defense for France at the World Cup(which, coincidentally, was when they played best this past year). So one could argue that Bayern are at risk of going into the new season with only one true center back in Sule.

How, then, would Bayern cope with this dilemma? There have been talks of signing Ozan Kabak, Niklas Stark, and (albeit unlikely) maybe even Matthjis de Ligt. However, none have been discussed in depth so far, and it is unlikely that Bayern will sign a new center back before the month is out, especially considering there have been reports that Uli Hoeness is not looking for a replacement for the departed Hummels.

If we take a step back to 2015-16, it looked quite similar to the current situation. Center back wise, Bayern only had three to start the season in Boateng, Medhi Benatia, and Holger Badstuber (disregarding Dante, who left after two games). Of course, all three suffered injuries at multiple points in the season, to the point where then-coach Pep Guardiola was forced to field a makeshift central defense line with David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich, with Javi Martinez if available. Serdar Tasci was brought in as an emergency over the winter, but only featured in three games.

That said, it worked out surprisingly well. Although Bayern bitterly lost out on a place in the Champions League final due to away goals, they did end up winning the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. Kimmich in particular shone in central defense, a highly unfamiliar role for the youngster back then, as he shut out Borussia Dortmund’s attack in the Pokal final to drag the match to penalties. Yes, he did miss his spot kick, but let’s not focus on that too much.

Point being, it may not be the worst thing in the world having three center backs, as well as a handful of players who can also be utilized in defense. Martinez has had an excellent season, and he can still be counted on as a center back if push comes to shove. Of course he may be a bit too slow for the role, but then again, so were Boateng and Hummels.

Alaba is still waiting in the wings, and should both Hernandez and Pavard miss out, Alphonso Davies could as well be a makeshift left back. I might be grasping at straws here, but the bottom line is that the situation may not be as dire as it seems. Among Bayern’s center backs in 2016, only Boateng made more than thirty appearances in all competitions. Yet the season was ultimately one of the more successful ones ever since the treble.

What is more worrying than the number of personnel is the lack of experience within. Back in 2016, Bayern had Philipp Lahm in defense to anchor it together. Should the back four remain as it is right now, Alaba would be the most experienced defender, and as good as he is, his experience alone may not be enough. Current captain Manuel Neuer has more experience than the entire back four put together, but as a goalkeeper, his presence in the defense will be limited at best, despite his frequent ventures forward.

But then again, is Bayern’s back four really that inexperienced? Hernandez and Pavard have both already won a World Cup with France, and Sule has already established himself as one of the best center backs in Europe. I don’t think I have to say much about Kimmich and Alaba. It is relatively inexperienced compared to perhaps other defensive lines in Europe (Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk and Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos for instance), but it is still a highly promising lineup. A lot of teams in Europe would love to have Bayern’s back four cough Man United cough.

It is true that Hummels’ abrupt departure has left a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Bayern’s defense. It is also true that it would be unwise to start looking at center backs once the transfer window really starts to heat up, and not necessarily as a replacement for Hummels, but as reinforcements on their own. However, I am merely pointing out the fact that Bayern have been in worse situations before, and have still managed to turn up. This season will be a transitional phase for the team, as it bids farewell to a lot of the old guard. I for one am cautiously excited about the possibilities this new batch of players will bring.

Of course, I could be as wrong as anyone, and there still is the possibility that Bayern will hugely regret selling Hummels to their main title rivals. But again, it is not the first time Bayern have had personnel problems, and it is too early to tell if this decision is just something to moan about.

Hopefully this time next year, I will not be eating my words. Brazzo, get working.

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