Opinion: Bayern Munich hurt by lack of star power at striker

While we all had our laughs during the first part of the season, I think we’ve seen the real limitations of Bayern Munich’s attack with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting as the focal point. He’s not dangerous enough to draw double and triple teams, which is almost a requirement of a Bayern forward.

One of the reasons why Thomas Müller has been one of the best players in the world over the last decade is that he was always able to flex off to find space off of forwards who were good enough to force teams into a minimum of man-marking plus another defender shadow-marking them. With Robert Lewandowski in there, Müller was able to find that inch of space and “disappear” for that split second, when the defender closest to him checked to find where Lewandowski was on the field. Once there, Müller would bury opponents with goals and assists.

Germany has also been struggling since the retirement of Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez with no other forward being good enough to solidify that attack. The burden has fallen on Müller to fill that role which he is not that good at.

There’s been some talk in Germany that Bayern are thinking about not spending money this summer on a forward if they can’t pry Harry Kane away from Tottenham Hotspur and offering a 34-year-old Choupo an extension worth around €10 million a season. When Lewandowski left for FC Barcelona this summer, I thought Bayern did absolutely the correct thing in not forcing a move for a forward and overspending when nobody was available who could really fill the spot at that time. Wait until summer 2023 and make your move.

For me, Choupo is exactly the same quality of player that Claudio Pizarro was in his second stint with Bayern. He is a phenomenal backup quality player for a club like Bayern; however, the club needs to heavily invest this summer in the striker position for the player who will be “The Man” moving forward.

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