Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern Munich vs. SC Preußen Münster; Bayern, Arsenal, Liverpool to pursue Brentford Aaron Hickey in January?; Manchester United ready to pay €50 million for Serge Gnabry?; Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid?; + MORE!

Die Folgen: Bayern’s 4-0 win over SC Preußen Münster (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich rolled with a (supremely-talented) skeleton squad for its DFB-Pokal match against the nattily-clad side from SC Preußen Münster and you would have never known just how many of the Bavarians were ruled out prior to the game given how well the side performed.

When factoring in that there would be one serious injury early in the match as well, the game had the makings for a disaster. It was anything but that, though. Bayern Munich crushed the home side 4-0, so let’s get to those quick hitters on the match:

• As always, let’s take a look at the lineup:

• Playing what looked like a 4-1-4-1, Leon Goretzka and Noussair Mazraoui manned the center-back positions, Konrad Laimer played right-back, Alphonso Davies played left-back, Mathys Tel and Kingsley Coman functioned as wings, and Serge Gnabry and Jama Musiala operated centrally in the attacking midfield. Joshua Kimmich functioned as a lone defensive midfielder and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting played as the striker. Daniel Peretz had the view from in between the sticks.
• Say what you want — and yes, SC Preußen Münster is not a team that should really threaten Bayern Munich — but the Bavarians were very solid for a squad that really went into scramble mode just to field a starting XI.
• Goretzka and Mazraoui really held down the fort well at center-back. The duo was very solid and handled the situation like true professionals. Goretzka was especially good.
• The Serge Gnabry forearm break was, uh, nasty. It is a shame for Johannes Schenk to have hurt his clubmate like that, but the youngster was just making a bang-bang play. It was just unfortunate for the collision to happen.
• The squad in front of Schenk was overmatched, but the 20-year-old handled himself well in a very difficult position.
• What is up with Thomas Müller? It has been a very bizarre stretch for him where he has floated between being hurt and sitting on the bench.
• So...Tel really does look like he can play wing at a high-level. With a goal and what should have been an assist on Choupo-Moting’s opening tally, Tel showed that he fits the exact mold that Bayern Munich wants from its wingers. Great speed and footwork, good vision, and the innate ability to disrupt. Should Gnabry, Coman, or Leroy Sané decide to try their hand at another club, Tel is a built-in replacement.
• Not going to lie, the thought of Musiala and Tel playing at wing at some point would be phenomenal, but it likely will not ever happen on a long-term basis.
• Laimer had a fantastic header goal, and was very solid at right-back again. Goretzka’s delivery on the header was excellent, too.
• Peretz had a fantastic debut for Bayern Munich. The youngster had three saves and showed the great anticipation and reflexes that we have heard so much about. The Bavarians might have struck gold with the Israeli netminder.
• Kimmich put forth an extremely good effort operating alone in the midfield.
• Frans Krätzig, who came on for Gnabry, continues to impress. The youngster has a nose for the goal and really looks like there might be “something” there. Let’s continue watching this kid develop.
• Taichi Fukui also made his first team debut and acquitted himself nicely.
• Bouna Sarr made an appearance...and had an assist on Tel’s goal. How many of you forgot he was on the squad?
• Overall, Bayern Munich was dominant...again. The attack was relentless and the makeshift defense played confidently. Everyone was solid and looked very sharp. What a performance!

If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, give them a look:

Bayern’s January solution could include Hickey (The Scottish Sun)

Bayern Munich has had a long-running courtship of versatile Scotsman Aaron Hickey and now there could be a legitimate plan for the German Rekordmeister to go out and get the talented 21-year-old.

Bayern Munich, however, will have a lot of competition as Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC, and Manchester United are all interested in the Brentford star:

Aaron Hickey is attracting interest from several European giants, it’s being claimed. The Brentford and Scotland star has reportedly caught they eyes of Premier League rivals Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United as well as German big guns Bayern Munich.

Hickey has a been a key player for Thomas Frank but he’s set or an even more prominent role in the coming months with Rico Henry ruled out for the season with a serious knee injury.

On Henry’s setback, Frank gave an update on Hickey and said: “With Aaron there is a lot of talk about whether he is a right back or a left-back, but I am in that privileged position that he can play on both sides and will most likely go on the left.

“He is both-footed and has huge ability, we don’t have that many full-backs so he is very important. He is a player we signed a year ago with big ambitions and his future and it is going in the right direction for him.”

Bayern Munich is reportedly interested in adding a player who can swing between positions, including being able to play outside-back. Hickey could be that type of player and given the club’s previous interest in him, it would not be shocking to see a move happen.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Podcast: Season 3, Episode 11 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich is fresh off of a nervy 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Champions League and will have to quickly re-focus itself to do battle with VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga.

With the English week making things a complete jumble for the podcast schedule, Bavarian Podcast Works has, once again, pushed the Preview Show into the Weekend Warm-up, so listeners are not overloaded with our content.

Given all of that, this is what we have on tape for this episode:

• A preview of Bayern Munich vs. VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga, including some thoughts on how the lineup might change and what the score might be.
• Examining why Thomas Tuchel’s lack of a rotation is a bad idea for the long-term prospects for this season.
• Harry Kane is a nicer, less bitter version of Robert Lewandowski
• We are seeing the best of Leroy Sané, aren’t we?

United’s potential bid for Gnabry revealed (We All Follow United)

Rumors floated just about a week ago that Manchester United was preparing to make a strong run at convincing Serge Gnabry to jump ship at Bayern Munich.

Now, we know exactly what kind of price that the Red Devils would be willing to pay for the Germany international — €50 million. Interestingly, Real Madrid is also reportedly very interested in Gnabry as well:

Football365 (h/t Express) reports that Manchester United are preparing to make an opening offer of around £43.3m for Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry. The Red Devils are looking to secure the German international as soon as in the coming January transfer window.

Manager Erik ten Hag‘s falling out with forward Jadon Sancho and the club granting Antony a leave of absence have left United with a shortage of options for the attacking right flank.

The English giants hope to secure Gnabry’s services quickly because Real Madrid, the La Liga giants, are also showing interest.

Modrić to Miami? (The Dubrovnik Times via 90Min.com)

Real Madrid star Luka Modrić could be the next Euro star to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami:

Luka Modrić has emerged as a shock target for David Beckham’s Inter Miami – Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets all joined the club over the summer.

Bavarian Podcast Works — Flagship Show: Season 6, Episode 11 (Bavarian Football Works)

So another week of football has gone by, and Bayern Munich have won two games in a row. In the meantime, Germany have hired Julian Nagelsmann (thanks to some financial help from the Bavarians) and we have reports that Matthijs de Ligt is unhappy with his situation (shock, horror!). Overall, a mixed week of events but the main subject of discussion are the two coaches — Tuchel and Nagelsmann.

In this episode, INNN and Marcus discuss the following:

• What do we think of Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich so far?
• How the games against Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen speak against the current coach.
• Is Tuchel causing problems in the dressing room?
• Marcus makes an unconvincing defense of Tuchel so far.
• The philosophical difference between hiring and firing coaches.
• How important is the RB Leipzig game next week?
• How can Tuchel improve the team going forward?
• Is Julian Nagelsmann capable of fixing Germany?
• What happens if he can’t do it?
• What is the leadership issue at Germany? Is Gündoğan the right choice of captain?
• What should Germany do if Nagelsmann can’t fix things?
• A quick look at the Preußen Münster game in the DFB Pokal coming up.

Kane named Player of the Week (@WhoScored)

Bayern Munich star Harry Kane was named as Player of the Week by WhoScored.com for his performance against VfL Bochum:

Alonso already on move to Madrid? (Radio Marca via 90Min.com)

When Bayern Munich was scared it would miss the chance to hire Thomas Tuchel, it unceremoniously sacked Julian Nagelsmann in an embarrassing manner — with word leaking through the media before the outgoing coach could be formally notified of the club’s decision.

Now, the Bavarians could be in the same spot with another coach that it — allegedly — would like to see take over the team: Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso.

However, Real Madrid is reportedly going to make a move for Alonso to take over Los Blancos next season:

Xabi Alonso is expected to take over as Real Madrid manager next season despite being in charge of Bayer Leverkusen for less than a year.

Barring some insane downturn in the team’s performance, it would seem very unlikely that Bayern Munich would pull the trigger on such a move for the second season in a row. Knowing that, Alonso heading to Real Madrid seems like a good possibility.