David Alaba humbled to be Bayern Munich’s “defensive boss”

When Hansi Flick took charge of Bayern Munich following the departure of Niko Kovac, he inherited a squad that was plagued with injuries, particularly in defense. One of the best revelations of that situation, however, has been David Alaba’s outstanding performance at center-back in the wake of the long-term injuries suffered by both Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez.

Since switching to center back, Alaba has been a true stalwart for Bayern’s back line and has led them to 4 clean sheets from a total of 8 matches across all competitions since Flick has taken charge. He was labelled as Bayern’s “head of defense” by Flick, which is a title that Alaba himself is quite humbled by. As one of the veteran players in the squad, he said, his main goal other than helping the team win is trying to restore confidence, especially amongst the back line (AZ):

That’s nice praise. I try to repay that trust on the pitch. Now even more responsibility is falling to me, which I am happy to accept. It is part of my development.

Alphonso Davies has proven himself to be a consistently reliant option for Flick at the left back position, and the youngster said he’s greatly benefited from being able to work alongside Alaba. Being able to learn from a natural left back is something he truly relishes:

I’m very happy that FC Bayern is giving its talents a chance. David is world-class as a left-back. I’m very grateful that I can learn from him.

Photo by M. Donato/FC Bayern via Getty Images

David Alaba and his partner Shalimar Heppner also just became first-time parents after the birth of their son, for which we have to say a massive congratulations to David and Shalimar!