Joshua Kimmich isn’t happy with Bayern Munich’s level of play

After Bayern Munich hung on to secure a 3-2 win over SC Paderborn at the Benteler Arena this weekend, Joshua Kimmich has voiced his concern at Bayern’s level of play. Despite the fact that the result takes Bayern to the top of the Bundesliga table, Kimmich feels that his side still is not firing on all cylinders and that their level of play needs to improve, especially ahead of their Champions League clash against Tottenham.

After giving up two goals in the 2nd half against Paderborn, Kimmich lamented the fact that Bayern let the hosts back into the match far too easily (FCBayern.com):

We didn’t do a good job. It was an open contest in the first half, we had the better chances. We should have led by two or three goals at half-time. We doubled the lead relatively early in the second half, it should have been over then. But we let our opponents back into the match and made life difficult for ourselves. Taken altogether we lacked the dominance we wanted to have.

Additionally, Kimmich highlighted the fact that Bayern have yet to dominate any of their matches for the entire 90 minutes (via Sport1):

I have to conclude that we have not yet managed to play a game dominantly for 90 minutes yet this season.

After Bayern went 2-0 up against Paderborn after 55 minutes, they noticeably took their foot off the gas and perhaps felt they could cruise to the 3 points. Niko Kovac make two halftime substitutions that affected the overall balance of play, when he took off Lucas Hernandez and Thiago Alcantara to bring on Javi Martinez and Alphonso Davies, but that still doesn’t excuse Bayern’s drop in concentration.

Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

Bayern has kept only two clean sheets in the Bundesliga this season, and the win over Paderborn marked the 3rd time they had surrendered leads, which they also did against Hertha Berlin and RB Leipzig. The pattern of conceding goals after scoring first is something Bayern must learn to avoid, because stronger opponents, especially in the Champions League, will make them pay.

Back to right-back against Tottenham?

Kovac has now deputized Kimmich at the defensive midfield role in Bayern’s last five league matches, which is the position he prefers over right-back. Kimmich played right-back in Bayern’s 3-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, however, and it’s possible that he’ll play there against against Tottenham. Regardless, Kimmich said that it had been nice to build some momentum playing in the midfield for a few weeks in a row as opposed to switching positions every other week:

[It is] always good when you can build up a rhythm and play two or three games at the 6. Then it’s someone simpler for me than switching every two or three weeks.

What does everyone think? Should Kimmich play at RB or CDM vs. Tottenham? Let us know in the comments section!

Photo by A. Beier/FC Bayern via Getty Images