Konrad Laimer speaks about how his playing style meshes with Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich

Konrad Laimer has been in most of Thomas Tuchel’s starting lineup selections in Bayern Munich’s preseason friendlies, which culminated with a 4-2 win over AS Monaco. Now the Bavarians look forward to the start of the competitive season with this weekend’s DFL-Supercup clash against RB Leipzig, Laimer’s former club.

Tuchel’s preferred midfield pivot so far has been Laimer alongside Joshua Kimmich, leaving Leon Goretzka most often relegated to a substitute’s role along with Ryan Gravenberch. Laimer’s ability to assume several different roles in midfield makes him a valuable asset in Tuchel’s setup, even though the manager has made it clear he is still in the market for a number 6, defensive midfielder.

In a recent interview with Tz , Laimer explained how he’s able to adapt his playing style and how he moves on and off the ball based off of what any given manager wants tactically. He knows when to press and when not to press, which he became well known for at Leipzig. “It’s not always black or white and there isn’t just one way to play football. For me there are four phases in football: possession, playing off the ball, switching with the ball, switching off the ball. And every coach has his own ideas about how he wants football to be played. That’s what I base my style on,” the Austrian international explained (via @iMiaSanMia).

Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images

At Leipzig, Laimer played under Marco Rose, Domenico Tedesco, Jesse Marsch, Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick, and Ralph Hasenhüttl, each of whom had different pressing styles they implemented at the club. With the club’s keen reputation for recruiting younger talents, there’s a natural inclination for them to possess more pace and use it for pressing purposes, but that’s not all Laimer said he was used to with Die Roten Bullen. “I’ve had many different coaches in my career who had many different ideas in mind. I didn’t just play pressing football. I’ve played with coaches in Leipzig who were mainly possession based,” he explained.

“Thomas Tuchel has his own principles that he inculcates in us so that we understand each other blindly on the pitch. Now I want to adapt as quickly as possible to push the coach’s ideas to perfection,” Laimer said of his new manager and his adaptation to life in Bayern’s midfield.

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