My Bad Take: Bayern Munich should not have broken the bank for Javi Martinez

At Bavarian Football Works, we are using this midseason break to expose ourselves (phrasing!). When working on Bayern Munich news and opinions on 24x7x365 basis, the entire staff develops some very good — and some very, very bad — takes. Whether these takes are relevant to past, present, or future opinions, we are going to let you in on some of the stupid things we think as part of a series. Without further ado, BFW will let is all hang out (damn it! phrasing again!).

Another blast from the past! As Samrin_TwinkleFCB goes back a long way to reveal her worst take:

My Bad Take: Bayern Munich should not have broken the bank for Javier Martinez

I am that one person on BFW who absolutely hates transfer talk. Whenever Bayern breaks the bank for anyone not named Lucas Hernandez, I cringe; I do not want Bayern linked with Dayot Upamecano because I believe in a Niklas Süle and Hernandez center-back partnership; I do not want Bayern to purchase Florian Neuhaus and weaken a club I have grown to love a little more every day since 2006, Borussia Mönchengladbach. I do not want Bayern to look at Florian Wirtz and take him away from Leverkusen, a team that has been my second side in the Bundesliga for ages. If Bayern is not involved in a Bundesliga game, you bet I am supporting Leverkusen.

After the season-which-shall-not-be-named, I believed fully that Bayern had the squad to take the cup with big ears home but failed because of leadership. I believed Arjen Robben’s selfishness and his rather delicate feet when taking a crucial penalty in extra time was the reason why we were not crowned Kings of Europe. I cried with Bastian Schweinsteiger, but, I believed that him and Luiz Gustavo formed an effective duo in defensive midfield. If one was injured, Toni Kroos could be pushed slightly back to occupy the second defensive midfielder role.

I just could not understand why Martinez was needed, especially considering how difficult his transfer was from Athletic Bilbao. Martinez wound up giving up a fair chunk of his own salary according to Bleacher Report due to his high transfer fee.

And then, well, by the end of the season, I claimed that a crucial reason, aside from Toni Kroos’ injury, behind Bayern’s treble win in 2012/2013, was Javi Martinez. When Bayern broke the bank again for Mario Götze, I was unsure, but I decided to trust my club. That one did not go as well. When Bayern breaks the bank, the transfer usually goes right. There are mixed feelings about Mario Gomez, but I thought he did well in his time in Bavaria. There are question marks still over Corentin Tolisso. However, overall, Martinez, was definitely worth breaking the bank for.

In fact, he is still around, and these days, wins Bayern UEFA Supercups.

Bayern could have done a lot worse than breaking the bank for Martinez.

Fire away!