Bayern Munich Loan Watch: Former PSG keeper criticizes Alexander Nubel’s performances for AS Monaco

The writing was on the wall for Alexander Nubel to really be the main man in goal for Niko Kovac’s AS Monaco for his loan spell from Bayern Munich. His fortunes were originally aided by Benjamin Lecomte’s injury, but the French keeper wound up getting loaned out to Atletico Madrid before the summer transfer window closed, making the window of opportunity for Nubel much larger.

Nubel has already made a total of nine appearances for Monaco across all competitions, all as the starting goalkeeper. He missed one match thus far, which was the first leg of the Champions League qualifying tie against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, which Monaco lost 1-0. Radoslaw Majecki started in goal for that particular match. Sadly, Nubel has yet to record a clean sheet in Ligue 1 as Monaco currently occupies the 16th spot in the table after a poor start to the season. Nubel has, however, recorded two clean sheets in Europe; the most recent coming in the 1-0 over SK Sturm Graz in the Europa League.

Speaking after last Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Olympique Marseille, former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Jerome Alonzo was rather critical of Nubel. Neither of Marseille’s goals were really Nubel’s fault, but on the overall balance, he certainly didn’t convince Alonzo (Sky Germany). “Is this supposed to be the future successor to Manuel Neuer at Bayern? He doesn’t make a good impression on me,” the former PSG keeper said. “He seems insecure, lame and technically limited,” he continued.

While Nubel might not exactly be covering himself in glory at Monaco, Alonzo’s comments can easily be perceived as exaggerated and reactionary. After the loss, Kovac came out to his keeper’s defense and affirmed that he is going to stick with Nubel in goal for the time being and only swap him out for Majecki in some of the cup matches, barring any injury situations that might occur. It was Kovac’s opinion that Nubel really couldn’t do anything for a lot of the goals that Monaco has conceded so far this season and that he really hasn’t had the genuine opportunities to truly showcase his abilities because Monaco doesn’t really concede many chances from match to match.

Hopefully, for Bayern’s sake, Nubel’s fortunes are able to improve. If he continues to struggle, his resale value will greatly decrease and if Sven Ulreich is no longer with the club, Bayern would also then have to invest in another backup for Manuel Neuer.