Four reasons why Bayern Munich II were relegated from the 3.Liga this season

Following Bayern Munich II’s remarkable run to the 3.Liga title in the 2019/2020 season, it was fully expected that the young Bavarians would have a tougher time in the third division when the next season came around. Unfortunately for everyone, Bayern II weren’t able to put things together on the field at any point of the campaign and found themselves relegated back down to the Regionalliga Bayern at the end of the season.

Let’s take a look at the four big reasons why Bayern II will be playing in the fourth division next season.

Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Last season’s best players left the team

There is no question that, looking back, the team that won the 2019/2020 3.Liga was stacked; however, the entire point of the Bayern second team is to develop players to be good enough for the first team. If they’re not good enough for the first team but too good to play for Bayern II, they’re getting loaned out or sold.

So, what happened with the talented team that won the 3.Liga Championship for the first time ever? Seventeen players (SEVENTEEN!?!) who saw significant playing time with the team were either promoted to the first team full time, left the club on a transfer, or were loaned out.

Full Time with First Team

• Alphonso Davies
• Jamal Musiala (two games in 3.Liga)

Transfers Out

• Kwasi Wriedt (Willem II - Netherlands first division)
• Flavius Daniliuc (OGC Nice - France first division)
• Derrick Köhn (Willem II - Netherlands first division)
• Paul Will (Dynamo Dresden - Germany third division)
• Marcel Zylla (Slask Wroclaw - Poland first division)
• Woo-yeong Jeong (Freiburg - Germany first division)

Loans Out

• Christian Früchtl (FC Nürnberg - Germany second division)
• Lars Lukas Mai (Darmstadt - Germany second division)
• Chris Richards (Hoffenheim - Germany first division)
• Michaël Cuisance (Olympique Marseille - France first division)
• Taylor Booth (St. Pölten - Austria first division)
• Sarpreet Singh (FC Nürnberg - Germany second division)
• Oliver Batista Meier (Heerenveen - Netherlands first division)
• Leon Dajaku (Union Berlin - Germany first division)
• Joshua Zirkzee (Parma - Italy first division)

The mass exodus of talented and experienced players clearly impacted Bayern II negatively this season. It would be difficult for any team to maintain a similar level of play following the departure of seventeen players, and Bayern II finished with 28 fewer points.

Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Holger Seitz had divided attention

When Sebastian Hoeneß left Bayern II following their 3.Liga championship and unexpectedly took over Hoffenheim, the club was in a tough spot. The club had promoted U-17 coach Miroslav Klose to be a first team assistant after he expressed his preparedness to leave the club for professional duties and moved Danny Schwarz from co-head coach of the U-19s with Martin Demichelis to sole head coach of the U-17s. Plus, COVID was still raging across the planet killing thousands of people every day.

So, the club turned to the man who got Bayern II promoted into the 3.Liga in the first place: Holger Seitz. At the time, Seitz had moved from the sidelines to the Bayern Campus full time as the Deputy Sporting Director for the Campus. Now, he was being thrust back into action as the Bayern II coach... while still maintaining his important duties at the Bayern Campus.

It’s safe to say that things didn’t work out as planned. With the team struggling and staring relegation in the face, the club announced that Seitz would step aside and let Martin Demichelis and Danny Schwarz take over a few months early (It obviously didn’t make a big impact.).

When it was agreed that Seitz would come back to coach Bayern II, it was agreed that upon the conclusion of the 2020/21 season, Seitz would take over all of the sporting management for the Bayern Campus, taking the role previously held by Hermann Gerland. So, he’s staying in Munich at the Bayern Campus to continue his role in finding and developing the talented youth players.

Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Kids missed out on U-19 opportunities

This reason is less obvious than many of the others, but it’s an overlooked impact that COVID had on Bayern II last season. The cancellation of the U-19 Bundesliga harmed Bayern II more than can be known.

Bayern’s U-19 team has allowed young players who may not be a regular starter for Bayern II to get minutes at a quality level instead of not getting minutes and finding themselves on the bench game after game. Unfortunately for the club, the 2020/21 U-19 Bundesliga was canceled after only four matches.

Unfortunately, this meant that players like Armindo Sieb, Chris Scott, Torben Rhein, Jamie Lawrence, and Bright Arrey-Mbi were only able to pick up a few matches at the beginning of the campaign before being thrust into action for Bayern II in the middle of a relegation fight.

Losing those regular minutes at the U-19 level slowed the progression for several players who would become instrumental for Bayern II down the stretch last season and will be key to the team’s (and the club as a whole) success moving forward.

Photo by Angelo Blankespoor/Soccrates/Getty Images

Kwasi Wriedt’s goal production couldn’t be replicated

When Bayern II won the 3.Liga championship during the 2019/20 season, Kwasi Wriedt led the league in goals with 24. This season, the leading goalscorer was 31 year old midfielder Timo Kern.

That’s no slouch to the team’s captain; however, the veteran (one of Bayern’s over-23 year old players) only found the back of the net 8 times. The player that many were hoping would replace Wriedt, Fiete Arp, only managed the find the back of the net 5 times in 2020/2021.

Quite frankly, that was the difference in this team being relegated and not being relegated. In the championship season, Bayern II scored 76 goals and conceded 60. In the relegation season, Bayern II scored 47 goals while conceding 58.