Stepping away: Michael Cuisance represents a cautionary tale for youngsters at Bayern Munich

With both Michael Cuisance and Oliver Batista Meier both leaving Bayern Munich, it seems like a good time to remember that Bayern Munich is an incredibly hard squad to break into for young players...

When it was announced that Michael Cuisance would be transferring to Bayern Munich from Borussia Mönchengladbach, the move raised a lot of eyebrows to say the least.

Sure, Cuisance had talent and a boatload of potential, but it was extremely hard to envision any scenario where he would consistently get on the pitch. Those doubts were proven right as Cuisance barely played during his time in Bavaria and almost racked up more injured teammates in practice than goals and assists.

It is still unclear why Bayern Munich felt the need to buy the Frenchman when they clearly had no plan for how to use him. If the strategy was to flip the player for a bigger fee down the road ... well, that failed as Bayern Munich is going to get half (or less) by selling him to Venezia.

Whatever the case, Cuisance’s time with Bayern Munich should be a lesson to any youngster who thinks breaking into the club’s lineup will be easy:

You might need to be mentality stable and mature as well as talented to be successful at Bayern Munich: The Bavarians are deep and talented and frankly, there just is not much playing time to go around in the midfield — or really anywhere. Whichever way you look in the locker room you are bound to see a starting caliber player. With just XI names able to be inked on a starting lineup sheet, though, you had better be patient, hardworking, diligent, focused, and mentally strong to stay on the right path.

Cuisance, of course, reportedly had attitude problems and has shown signs of immaturity in matches and irritated coaches in training. The Frenchman has not been the only one, though. Angelo Stiller, Niklas Dorsch, and many others had to leave the club through the years. Adrian Fein, Joshua Zirkzee, Chris Richards, Lars Lukas Mai, and Fiete Arp among others had to go away on loan. Tanguy Nianzou has allegedly become frustrated. Marc Roca has not ruled out a transfer. Even Jamal Musiala wanted a sit down with the coaching staff to determine exactly what his role is on the squad. No matter how confident you are in your ability...Bayern is Bayern for a reason.

Patience is a virtue: Sure, we mentioned this above, but there is exactly no need to rush into a decision to sign with Bayern Munich. As we have seen with Arp, making the move to Bayern Munich is not for everyone and can actually be harmful to a player’s career if the player does not have the proper mindset and expectations. Arp’s career is potentially in ruins because he jumped to a big, powerful, and successful club too early. It can easily be argued that Cuisance suffered the same fate — though he will at least have a chance to salvage his professional life in Serie A.

If you think you are good, chances are Bayern already has someone better: This must be the hardest thing for a young player to accept. Modern athletes are coddled from young ages and showered with praise if they show any advanced aptitude in a particular sport. Natural talent can carry you to the first team level, but what you do from there will either keep you there or send you packing relatively quickly. The harsh reality is that a lot of modern players assume they will walk onto a club’s campus and assert themselves quickly — because that is what they have done their entire lives. At Bayern Munich, though, even the most physically gifted and naturally talented players often find themselves outclassed. That ... is not an easy fact for any youngster to accept after almost never facing failure on the road to this level.

In the end, Bayern Munich just isn’t for everyone. Players are tested and pushed to the limit every day. Some thrive, some fail, and some establish an early baseline and then try like hell to improve. Even then, things do not always work out.

Only the most talented enter and only the most mentally strong survive. Such is life on Säbener Straße — and the club would not have it any other way.