Thomas Tuchel tight-lipped on Bayern Munich starting lineup plans when asked about Leon Goretzka

Thomas Tuchel has already shown a preference to starting Joshua Kimmich and Konrad Laimer as the dual midfield pivot for Bayern Munich. This has relegated Leon Goretzka to a substitute’s role, prompting speculation that he could be up for sale this summer. Still, though, he’s remained adamant that he wants to stay at Bayern and fight for his place in the team, even though there’s been concrete interest from top clubs across Europe’s top five leagues.

In both of Bayern’s preseason friendlies from Tokyo Japan against the likes of Manchester City and then Kawasaki Frontale, Tuchel started Kimmich and Laimer in midfield, perhaps suggesting what we might see come the DFL-Supercup against RB Leipzig and match week 1 of the Bundesliga against Werder Bremen. A lot can change between now and then, though.

After the 1-0 win over Kawaski Frontale, Tuchel was specifically asked about Goretzka’s substitute role and he didn’t want to give too much away as far as what his preferred starting eleven is. He took more of a diplomatic approach to his response for Goretzka’s sake. “We don’t have many games to prepare. We want to get the processes going, a team spirit. Nothing has been decided yet. It’s not the moment yet to discuss individual players publicly,” he explained, as per SportBild’s Tobi Altschaffl (via @iMiaSanMia).

Altschaffl also reported that Tuchel is set to sit down and speak with players in the squad individually after Bayern gets back from their preseason tour of Asia so that they all have a clear understanding of where they stand. He’s gotten a brief chance to look at different things with different players during the friendlies, but August 12th is fast approaching. Of course, there could still yet be more incoming and outbound transfer business by the time the DFL-Supercup against Leipzig rolls around.

“Generally speaking, I want to find a first XI as soon as possible. The players who are behind have to make sure they can get in,” Tuchel explained. He wants to ensure that all of the players get a fair look and get their chance to prove why they should be starters.

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