Weekend Warm-up: Things will look different in 2022/23 for Bayern Munich; Throwing it back to Skid Row; Bundesliga predictions; Better Call Saul was great; and MORE!

Imagine you are Julian Nagelsmann.

You have done it! You have taken the reins at your dream job with Bayern Munich and are set to lead the club through a transitional period that will help form the new age of football in Bavaria.

You might be lucky enough to get a few more good seasons out of Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, and Thomas Müller (assuming all three players re-sign), you have a good crop of players entering their prime, and even some youngsters who look like they they could be impact players.

Things are good, eh?

Yes, they are.

So...what’s the problem?

Well, if you are Nagelsmann, you want to imprint your idea of what the club can be moving forward and lead in the best way that you know how — Ghosts of Säbener Straße be damned.

You want say in personnel moves, to potentially change the formation, and generally to be able to run the squad the way that you like to.

In 2022/23, it seems like Nagelsmann will get the chance to shed any half-measures from this season and pursue putting together the squad in his own vision — well, putting together the squad in his own vision with the players that sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidzic provides him anyway.

“We have an extremely close exchange, I have full confidence in Brazzo, Marco (Neppe), and Oli (Kahn). We have to try to get the most out of the financial resources available. We’ll put together a top team by the end of August,” Nagelsmann said at his press conference this week.

Lately, Nagelsmann has been talking more assertively through the media about what positions he wants for the squad, his tactics, and his training methods. After tip-toeing through 2021/22 in hopes of gaining trust and not ruffling too many feather, it seems that the 34-year-old coach is ready to put his stamp on the team — for better or for worse.

“The question is how to define success. I have a wonderful job. I love the job of being a football coach. There are certainly nicer moments than the last three weeks. But I’ll continue to give everything,” Nagelsmann said. “Of course you question everything at the end of the season. We’re going to adjust some things, but I’m not going to change my style very much. Next season I’ll try to improve on the things that didn’t go well and keep the things that went well.”

Back three? Back four? Who’s in? Who’s out? Next season will truly be where we start to get an idea of what Nagelsmann’s strategic vision of the squad looks like, how he’ll truly interact with the front office, and if can extract the best from his roster.

While this campaign was a nice appetizer, Nagelsmann will be cooking up the full course for next season. If we fast forward a year from today, there will likely be a lot of happy people or a lot of angry folks, because with Nagelsmann, there does not appear to be much of an in-between and it looks like he will be implementing changes that could alienate at least some of the fan base.

How the native Bavarian molds his roster to conform with his vision will be of the utmost importance, but maintaining the good rapport he has with the players might even be more vital. As recent history has shown us with Carlo Ancelotti and Niko Kovac, it is easy for a coach to lose the locker room in Bavaria, so for Nagelsmann it can’t — and won’t — be all about transfers and tactics. People management will be where he might have to do his best work.

Things will be, indeed, be different, but whether that means in a good way or bad way will largely fall on the shoulders of Nagelsmann — rightly or wrongly.

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Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 1, Episode 46

Ah, Der Klassiker weekend was always going to be crazy as Bayern Munich prepares for Borussia Dortmund, but there is no way anyone could have forecasted how much news surrounding the Rekordmiester was going to drop this week.

From potential transfers to the announcement of a friendly in Washington D.C. to Uli Hoeneß detailing why he slinked off into the shadows...this week had it all. This is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A look at Julian Nagelsmann’s three big requests for the summer: A right-back, a defensive midfielder, and an attacker.
• The complicated situation surrounding Robert Lewandowski.
• How Konrad Laimer might fit at Bayern Munich.
• Serge Gnabry’s future is in doubt.
• Marcel Sabitzer has suitors, but might not want to move on.
• Some quick thoughts on the first episode of Better Call Saul.

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Better Call Saul — the season premiere was solid

if you are a Breaking Bad fan like me, you were lying in wait for the Better Call Saul season premiere and it did not disappoint.

Yes, they crammed A LOT into that episode, but such is the nature of trying to get a very complex story with about a million plotlines jammed into this final season. I am excited about what the prospects of where this is all going.

Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, and the rest of the cast were on-point and I’m genuinely excited about where this is going (even if I know where it ultimately ends up).

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Song of the Week: “Youth Gone Wild” by Skid Row

Why not blast a little hair metal to get your blood pumping on this Friday morning?

“Youth Gone Wild” was recorded in 1988 and released in 1999 right at the tail end of hair metal’s prime run. At the time, I was just a wee lad getting ready to enter high school and probably didn’t appreciate the song enough when it was popular.

It was really only years later that I gained fondness for the hair genre:

If you want to check out more Skid Row, “I Remember You” is probably (definitely) on Tom Adams’ list of top power ballads.

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Bavarian Podcast Works: Preview Show — Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker

It is almost as if the Bundesliga scripted the season to reach this point: Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena. Should the Bavarians win, they’ll wrap up a 10th consecutive league crown.

Even with a draw, Bayern Munich would be in a prime spot to win the league barring a blockbuster collapse given that Dortmund would need to win the rest of the matches, hope for the Bavarians to lose the rest of their matches — and make up a pretty massive goal differential in the process.

This is what we have on tap for this episode:

• A look at where each club resides in the the table (Hint: The top).
• A glance at the form and recent storylines surrounding each team.
• A guess at Julian Nagelsmann’s lineup.
• A prediction on the match.

As always, we love your feedback and appreciate all the support!

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Predictions

I can’t explain it, but I feel like Bayern Munich’s offense is poised to break out and put up four goals against a Borussia Dortmund squad that will be missing Gregor Kobel, Axel Witsel, Mats Hummels, Donyell Malen, Mahmoud Dahoud, Thomas Meunier, Thorgan Hazard, Giovanni Reyna and Steffen Tigges.

Yeah, Dortmund still has Erling Haaland, Marco Rose, et al, but Bayern Munich should be able to exploit the BVB backline, pile on the pressure, and eventually see the Black and Yellows crack.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 4-1 Borussia Dortmund

Other Bundesliga predictions include:

• Wolfsburg 2-1 Mainz 05
• Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Hoffenheim
• FC Köln 3-1 Arminia Bielefeld
• SC Freiburg 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
• SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
• VfL Bochum 0-1 FC Augsburg
• Hertha Berlin 1-0 VfL Stuttgart
• RB Leipzig 3-1 Union Berlin

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Prediction Records

This is way too close for comfort.

Last Bundesliga Match Day record: 4-5

Overall Bundesliga record: 140-130

DFB-Pokal record: 1-1

DFL-Supercup record: 1-0

Champions League record: 7-3

Overall record: 149-134