Let's talk a little about what Nags like for his midfield, from his time in Leipzig we can see he likes a ball winning, hard pressing, and tackling number 6 with a lot of stamina and 2 attack minded also high pressing mids with a lot of speed and very pliable with the ball more like 10s and less like 8s (hence why Sane and Musiala have been tried in this position) the pressing is always forward as well as the passes, every opportunity to be direct has to be taken but they also track back as a unit and don't neglect their defensive responsibilities, but for all this gegenpressing to work it has to be as a unit and the front line have to coordinate the pressing as well, we could also talk of the wingback as they could be seen as part of the midfield but I will save that for another article

With this out of the way let's start with the Players

Stanišić

I wanted to start with Stani because, since the first games I saw him play with the first team, I thought he should play more minutes in the DM as Kimmich did from CB(a few games) to RB to DM I believe he has all the attributes necessary for the role, he is very good in defense, has good speed(surely faster than Kimmich) and also good passing and positioning, if he stays on the team I don't think we need Laimer, he has kind of play a midfield role as an inverted fullback when he supports Kimmich or whoever is playing DM so he already has a little experience there

Kimmich

He is great what more can I say that hasn't been said yet, his passing is superb, and he runs like a madman through the field, has an eye for the goal, and assist even though he is a DM he is a mentality monster, I firmly believe if he was training with kids he will still yell at them for their mistakes xD, on the negative side he gets overrun by fast players, sometimes takes a little bit to long to pass the ball in quick transitions and because of his mentality he has to play every game which is not good for the legs

Goretzka(The destroyed)

Hulretzka has evolved his game from a more defensive mid to an all-rounded 8 he does it all (attack, pressing, tracking back, covering the entire field, through balls, and getting in the box for crosses or a late ball in the final third) he is not as recognized for his efforts as his partner Kimmich, Nevertheless Goretzka is vital to the balance of the team as he is willing to do the dirty work others are not, on the negative side his passing and distribution is not as great as Kimmich or Gravenberch and he is available only 50% to 70% of the season, but for what he offers he should play whenever fit

Gravenberch

He hasn't played much to give an objective opinion, I thought he was great in preseason he has great link-up play, good speed and dribbling, and a lot of energy but I think he lacks the defensive capabilities yet to play in a double pivot he gets caught up high and doest always track back that's why Nags wanted to play him as a 10 but we have a lot of talent there already wit Musiala, Sane, Gnabry, Choupo (the 9 that is more like a 10 according to Nags) and some of the youngster like Ibra and Paul, so my take is that he either adapts his play to more of what Goretzka does or he is going to get loaned soon, I think he can work in a 3 man midfield but I doubt we are going to work with that system at least until Muller retires or drops his form badly

Muller

Yes he was in the attack article but he is technically a midfielder and that's the beauty of the Raumdeuter he works coordinating the attack as well as the midfield and he is always ready to press and give a hand to the attack or defense, that is why our pressing is always better with him, you can look at the game in Stuttgart how Muller was tracking back at the closing minutes while a fresh Sane was just chilling on the field, enough said

Sane

Yes Nags have tried this to work but he just lacks the pressing and defensive part of the game(for the full 90 minutes)for this position, and if he is not willing to put in the hard work just play him at left wing

Musiala

He has played some games at the 10 with a lot of success when the team is in good form both physically and mentally and also played as an 8 which has helped him develop the defensive part of his game, but is by no means his best attribute, nevertheless, I feel safe if Musiala needs to play that role in case of injury as he can control the games with his passing and clever movement, as a number 10 I think he has to develop a little more physically to compete a bit better with the defenders or reach Messi's level of dribbling where it just doesn't matter his physic at all

​Sabitzer

More like a mix between an 8 and a 10 when Bayern bought him, I thought he was going to be a super sub but things never went too well for him, he change his game to be more defensive this season but what Goretzka brings to the team no other mid in our squad can replicate, so he got benched and he is now at United, I have seen some games since I like Te-Hag(a.k.a Guardiola with beard) style of play a lot and he has been good nothing spectacular but good enough for me to think that they will buy it, so I don't spect to see him in a Bayern jersey next season

Laimer

The new acquisition is a pressing and tackling machine and covers as much ground as Kimmich does on the field maybe more, but he lacks the game distribution and long-range passing that Kimmich offers to the game ( well you lose some you win some) as a free agent I think is a smart move from the board but not a necessary one just one of Nags wishes on the shopping cart as I explain before I think that while Stani is no pressing machine he is no slouch either and could very well play that number 6 role in a similar way that Kimmich does

Paul/Ibra

We have had really good youngsters in our academy every year, but I don't think that Nags is doing a good job at developing them, Musiala started to play regularly under Flick and Stani also got some minutes if I am not mistaken, right now neither Paul nor Ibrahimovic are getting decent minutes and Tel only plays(10 minutes at the end of games) because he cost a lot of money for a youngster, Stani is playing because Pavard red card against PSG and the necessity to fill that void at CB-RB Hybrid on the right flank, but when Maz is fit I don't expect Stani to play much

That's all for the article leave your thought and comments and wait for the defense article