Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann to use Leroy Sane on the left

As Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane has slumped, fans, coaches, pundits, club officials, and anyone with a social media account have pieced together hypotheses about how to best get the former Manchester City star headed in the right direction.

Bavarian boss Julian Nagelsmann has come to the determination that he needs to ditch the club’s unspoken “inverted winger” mandate and seek to make Sane comfortable by using him on the left side.

“On the right, Leroy often has the situation that he wants the ball in his foot and then has to play with his back to the goal — he doesn’t have the best quality there. When he plays on the left, he has a little more depth, the game often in front of him, it is easier for him,” Nagelsmann told Bild.

Nagelsmann knows Sane did not exactly light the world on fire against Bremer SV, but the new manager did see some improvement — including a goal.

“Not everything went well for him, but he was very committed and I find that very valuable. All is well,” Nagelsmann said. “This is the first step for him, that he becomes aware of the great quality he has and what he is not quite so good at.”

Bild also broke down Sane’s career stats by which side he played on:

At Man City he played in a total of 135 competitive games (39 goals and 45 assists) only nine times on the right (two goals) and 112 times on the left (36 goals, 44 assists). At Schalke and Bayern he ran 57 times on the right and 16 times on the left in his 81 league appearances. On the right, Sané was involved in a goal every 139 minutes, on the left every 106 minutes.

While this move should help Sane, it remains to be seen how it will impact the other wingers in the group.