Tag: Julian Nagelsmann

Different Manager, Same Bayern Munich; They Mean Business Once Again

Different Manager, Same Bayern Munich; They Mean Business Once Again

A full stadium, a warm autumnal shine, and an opportunity to take top spot in the Bundesliga: the stage was set for a thrilling and captivating battle between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on Sunday afternoon. A match highly anticipated as one of the best spectacles of the campaign so far, between two teams in thrilling form in front of goal.

For just three minutes or so, the fan’s appetite for the game was truly satisfied.

Until Joshua Kimmich found an unmarked Dayot Upamecano in the box from a superbly worked free-kick, who’s volley across the penalty box sublimely diverted past Lukas Hradecky with an exquisite flick by the man of the moment, Robert Lewandowski. His movement and timing to get on the end of the pass so effortless, so swift coupled with the mastery and brilliance to flick the ball home.

Is there anything Lewandowski cannot do?

A goal to make it eight goals in eight games for the Polish hitman. He ended the afternoon with nine in eight, a striker simply strutting his business on another planet blessed with a pure striker’s instinct.

The rest was history. All of about ten minutes later, Bayern Munich once again ripped through Leverkusen when Leroy Sane struck a sweet strike on to the post.

It was simply too easy for Nagelsmann’s ruthless attacking arsenal consisting of the stunning quartet of Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry and Sane who’s quickly discovering his best form once again.

A Leverkusen side thin on midfield muscle and stability — with Robert Andrich, Charles Aranguiz, Exequiel Palacios and Julian Baumgartlinger all deemed unavailable before the match — pushed further upfield in chase of a swift reply, leaving gaps between the lines that Bayern’s attackers tore through at will. 

It took just seven minutes for Nagelsmann’s men to hit four goals in such ruthless and clinical fashion – Lewandowski (30th minute), Thomas Muller (34th), Gnabry (35th) and Gnabry again (37th) – simply killing any hopes and expectations fans and the media had of a closely-contested spectacle. The fourth and fifth goals scored by Gnabry was simply stunning and relentless, football played out of elite-level territory.

The cross from Thomas Muller for Gnabry’s fourth was truly mesmerising, the deft touch from Gnabry to slot home past Hradecky was even better. The fifth, Leverkusen simply could not live with as Gnabry played a quick one-two with counterpart Leon Goretzka before coolly slotting his fifth Bundesliga goal of the campaign.

Remember when Bayern had that stuttering patch all of about a month ago? With Julian Nagelsmann’s head ready to be handed on a silver platter just about two months into his tenure as Bayern boss. Well, those doubts have been well and truly dismantled.

Yes, they suffered an unexpected and historic home defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt before the international break but Nagelsmann before the contest at the BayArena, simply made sure that it was only a miniscule blip in a machine that simply cannot help blitzing their rivals on their way to domestic supremacy.

The win at Leverkusen made it 10 wins from 12 for Bayern Munich, highlighting a side showing no signs of letting up.

All Gerardo Seoane’s Leverkusen side could do was to adopt a more defensive 5-2-3 system to try and control Bayern’s rampant display in attack and hope the champions would switch into preservation mode, conserving energy for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League group-tie trip to play Benfica in Lisbon. 

Fortunately for them, Nagelsmann’s men allowed them a dot on the scoreboard when the extraordinary wonderkid Florian Wirtz executed a sumptuous through ball for Patrik Schick to score.

Seasoned Bundesliga watchers will not have been surprised at the state at which Bayern laid their rivals to rest. From defence to attack, Bayern were dominant, ruthless, relentless and merciless. Even with Niklas Sule playing at right-back, Leverkusen simply did not have the bravery to trouble Nagelsmann’s makeshift backline.

It was men against boys, but most of all it was a strong statement from Bayern that they are not growing tired of capturing more Bundesliga gongs even with a different coach in the dugout. We’ve mentioned the brilliance of Bayern’s scary quartet in attack but we cannot leave here without mentioning the industry, efficiency and controlling nature that is the reliable midfield duo of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka showcasing a midfield masterclass.

Nadem Amiri, and Kerem Demirbay simply could not get near them as they both disheveled and dismantled the Leverkusen midfield and defence with their passing, movement and swift interchanging with the attackers.

The superlative class of the first 14 or 15 players in this Munich squad is a given. Combined with the sky-high intrinsic motivation levels of the players and new coach Nagelsmann’s nerdish and admirable attention to detail, it makes for a truly frightening package, and it is reflected throughout the whole starting XI.

In training, the former Hoffenheim and Leipzig coach had his team specifically rehearse the overload of the central areas, with Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane taking up spaces between the lines to create opportunities. It proved the perfect preparation for Leverkusen’s drafty set-up. “It might sound strange but we could have scored more goals in the first half,” Nagelsmann smiled contentedly in a cream-coloured Boss sweatshirt.

Take away their astounding 12-0 cup triumph over fifth division Bremer SV in August and Bayern have still scored 40 times in 11 outings so far this season. Unstoppable firepower in attack.

Bayern look more hungry, more refined, more matured and ready to fire in all cylinders this season. It’s not just the whole of Germany who have to sit up and take notice, but Europe too.

It may be a different head in the managerial dugout, but Bayern are out for blood yet again.

Christopher Nkunku, RB Leipzig’s shining light

Christopher Nkunku, RB Leipzig’s shining light

If RB Leipzig can take any solace from their quite below-par start to the season under new boss Jesse Marsch, its the form of their supremely gifted talismanic French midfielder Christopher Nkunku.

The 23-year-old was terribly unlucky that is tremendous hat-trick against Manchester City in their UEFA Champions League group stage curtain raiser came at a disastrous cost as Leipzig were cut to shreds at the other end as City triumphed 6-3 at the Etihad.

While much of the headlines on the night will have been about their shambolic defending against Grealish and co. Christopher Nkunku’s stock rose considerably providing hope for Leipzig in an otherwise dour evening in Manchester.

Photo: REUTERS/Craig Brough

The 23-year-old took his goals superbly, despite all three of them drawing Leipzig back into the game whilst City ran riot, but all three goals were a true reflection of the remarkable growth he is showing under Jesse Marsch so far this season.

The former Red Bull Salzburg coach has already stated his admiration and joy at working with the Frenchman, “Christopher has no weaknesses. He’s young and still want a lot more. Working with him is a lot of fun as he’s really intelligent and has a lot of potential.”

Indeed, Nkunku is an incredibly intelligent player and that isn’t just reflected in his goals – he’s got 7 goals and 2 assists in eight games at the time of writing – it’s the way he’s setting about scoring them. Getting himself into the right positions to take his chances but also provide the whole team with the onus to go and express themselves in attack.

Against Hertha Berlin at the weekend, Nkunku scored two beautiful goals – a dink over the keeper and a finely taken free-kick right into the top corner – and provided two assists in Leipzig’s 6-0 rout over a very poor Hertha BSC side to become the hallmark of Leipzig’s instant rejuvenation.

In their second Champions League group stage game against Belgian outfit Club Brugge – in yet another European defeat for Jesse Marsch and his side – he bagged his fourth goal in the competition latching onto a through ball to put Leipzig ahead in a 2-1 defeat.

It’s important to note that Nkunku has always provided the admirable and telling consistency in his game that makes him such a uniquely gifted performer for Leipzig. It’s only now, his performances are reaping its rewards.

Last season, he registered the highest combined non-penalty expected goals (npxG) and expected assists (xA) for attacking midfielders/wingers domestically (0.73 per game). How does that rank amongst his peers? Very high in fact. Over the course of the past year, he ranks in the 96th percentile in Europe’s top five leagues and international club competition for the same category (0.64 per game).

NpxG and xA are combined with “shot creation actions”, meaning “the two offensive actions directly leading to a shot, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls”, highlighting involvement in Leipzig’s attacks. Once again, his overall contribution was only bettered by a handful of the world’s top midfielders/forwards, including Neymar and Lionel Messi.

However, due to poor finishing by himself and his teammates meant that his extraordinarily positive influence on the team’s attacking output was getting somewhat overlooked because he wasn’t registering the goals and assists that is expected from attacking midfielders.

His Bundesliga npxG of 0.37 and xA of 0.36 per 90 only produced six goals and six assists from 28 games. In fact, his underlying numbers suggest Nkunku should really have notched around 10 goals and 10 assists last season. His end product appeared above-average rather than excellent, unlike his debut campaign where he hit five goals and 13 assists.

Also, his positional versatility proved his undoing under former boss Julian Nagelsmann last year. He was seen as a very useful utility player rather than the technically gifted up-and-coming star he should have been perceived as.

Nkunku performed in a variety roles mostly as one of two narrow attacking midfielders behind a striker or false nine which hampered his understanding of his role and value in the team and also the opportunity to work efficiently and effectively with his fellow attackers such as the equally gifted Dani Olmo.

In Jesse Marsch’s 4-2-3-1 system, by contrast, he’s been utilised as more of a winger.

When Marsch changed his set-up in response to his team’s run of poor results ahead of the Hertha BSC game and reverted to Nagelsmann’s 3-4-3 system, Nkunku was back in the right-sided No 10 role but crucially given licence to make roam and make deeper runs as his abilities warrant.

From there, he’s able to provide his strongest assets: his pace, off-the-ball movement and superb understanding of space in between the opponent’s defence and midfield. Against Hertha, Nkunku clocked an outstanding 35.5 kilometres per hour during the game.

Defensively, Nkunku is just as quick off the mark and without the ball. 8.69 pressures in the final third put him in the 99th percentile in the top five leagues for players in his positions.

The midfielder is so dangerously creative too. Once he gets the ball in the final third, its incredibly hard to stop him expressing himself. He’s always on the move, always willing to receive the ball in the most difficult areas in the half-space but more important he is very competent and consistent in attempting the extraordinary eye-of-the-needle through balls. He’s averaged an incredible 5.27 shot creating actions, 2.41 key passes, 2.22 passes into the final third whilst also averaging the same amount of passes into the 18-yard-box per90 minutes. Again, he is so vital to Jesse Marsch’s team.

He is indeed a uniquely gifted performer.

Now, we are finally starting to see Nkunku reap his rewards. He’s always worked hard as the above stats show, he’s always been a willing player both in attack and defence but he hasn’t had the numbers to show for it.

At Leipzig, they’re not surprised at his extraordinary start to the season.

After returning from the summer break with more muscle having worked with a personal trainer on his stability and speed, putting in extra shifts on the training ground in his ball-work, Marsch and his coaching staff were expecting him to be one of the key performers in this campaign and Nkunku has repaid their faith so far.

He is one of the first names on the team-sheet this season, after finding his spot limited under Naglesmann last year.

Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, the same Paris suburb that produced Paul Pogba, Nkunku cut a rather slight if confident figure among fellow Clairefontaine academy students Marcus Thuram (now at Borussia Monchengladbach), Allan Saint-Maximin (now at Newcastle United) and Amine Harit (now at Marseille).

As was often the case of young stars playing in Paris, opportunities were limited for players from the PSG academy. If you need any examples, just ask players like Odsonne Edouard, Tanguy Nianzou, Boubakary Soumaré or Timothy Weah, the list is endless.

Nkunku understood that he needed to find regular game time hence his move to Leipzig in 2019. A club well placed to provide him with the development and learning his game deserved.

Shortly before leaving Paris, Arsenal head of recruitment Sven Mislintat had attempted to bring in the player on loan in the 2018-19 winter transfer window but PSG didn’t approve. He was sold to RB for €13 million and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in his first season.

“It was the club I needed,” Nkunku explained at the time. “I’ve rediscovered the pleasure of playing. I feel that I’m blossoming on the pitch, that I’m a bit more liberated. The more time goes on, the better I am. Now I can say that it is better to leave your comfort zone to grow taller.”

The 23-year-old has grown considerably since then, his game has matured and his intelligence and understanding of the tactically has soared through the roof, and its a testament to his hard-work and willingness to learn and improve. Nkunku is only going to get better and that’s a scary sight for Leipzig’s opponents this season.

His existing contract runs until 2024 but just like Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate, Naby Keita, Timo Werner and Marcel Sabitzer before him, he’ll almost certainly become too good a player to stick around at Leipzig for much longer.

The club will have to enjoy him while they can, because Christopher Nkunku is on to much bigger things in the near future.

Jesse Marsch possesses an exciting Leipzig squad at his disposal, can he deliver the unthinkable?

Jesse Marsch possesses an exciting Leipzig squad at his disposal, can he deliver the unthinkable?

New RB Leipzig head coach Jesse Marsch believes his side have “probably the most strength in depth in the (German) Bundesliga” ahead of the start of the 2021/22 season.

A bold claim made by Red Bull Salzburg’s former boss, but a claim that could well prove true in the context of Leipzig’s summer business. While supposed ‘title rivals’ Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have arguably grown weaker this summer, Leipzig have taken advantage through another period of steady growth, recruitment & development.

Ever since their rapid emergence on the scene in the German Bundesliga in 2016/17, Leipzig have been a breath of fresh air providing a huge sense of euphoria, energy and optimism around the country. The brand of football introduced by the Red-Bull has allowed the Bundesliga to now become one of the most entertaining leagues in the world.

The club didn’t earn their place into the Bundesliga just to make up the numbers. They have more than made their mark, only finishing outside the top four, once in the last five years, finishing sixth in 2018. In the last five years, they’ve finished second, third, sixth, third, third and last year finished second 13 points behind the ever-dominant Bayern Munich.

This season, they aim to go that one step further – towards an unprecedented first German Bundesliga triumph, ending Bayern Munich’s nine year dominance. Leipzig won’t be doing it with Nagelsmann though, who departed to their title rivals in May.

However, they’ve introduced a familiar face.

Arguably the club’s greatest capture this summer, American tactician Jesse Marsch returned to Leipzig, where he had been assistant to Ralf Rangnick in 2018/19, following a successful two-year stint in charge at Red Bull Salzburg.

Known for his fresh, vibrant and exciting style to management, especially his high-energy, intensity and counter-pressing attacking approach which will almost certainly give the Leipzig faithful more reason to be optimistic so soon after Julian Nagelsmann’s departure to Bayern Munich.

This summer, Bayern continued its long-held practice of snatching up top talent from its biggest German rivals, nabbing Nagelsmann and also star center back Dayot Upamecano after the 12-year-old club finished second in the Bundesliga last season. Bayern might not be done raiding either, with recent reports linking them to influential Leipzig midfielder Marcel Sabitzer.

Jesse Marsch left an exciting squad in Austria, soon after winning league and cup double to join an even much more exciting squad at Leipzig.

The American coach will be taking the reins of a side currently brimming with thrilling talent, including Dani Olmo, Emil Forsberg, Christopher Nkunku, Josko Gvardiol, Marcel Sabitzer (who could be on the move to Munich), Dominik Szoboszlai, a player Marsch previously worked with at Salzburg, and also Tyler Adams.

To add to that the new signings brought in certainly brings an added touch of sprinkle dust on a refreshingly built squad. Brian Bobbey, Mohamed Simakan, Josko Gvardiol & devastating goalscorer Andre Silva were brought in, while deals for Angeliño and Benjamin Henrichs were made permanent following their fine loan spells last season.

Such signings mean RB Leipzig are well equipped to push on and challenge former coach Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich for the league title.

“The players have tremendous potential,” Marsch told rblive.com. “I think we probably have the most strength in depth in the league. Theoretically, we could send out two Bundesliga teams. If we’re able to fully unlock that potential, we can have a lot of fun together.”

Indeed, the club and its fans are surely due a bit of fun, entertainment and huge optimism heading into their opening game away to Mainz.

In particular, the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt’s Andre Silva, who finished second top-scorer last term with 28 goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances – an astonishing goalscoring record. A move which addresses an area of the squad that had been lacking since Timo Werner’s move to Chelsea in the summer of 2020.

Silva’s unexpected signing is a move which will help bolster what was just the Bundesliga’s sixth most prolific attack in 2020/21 with 60 goals (compared to Bayern’s 99 and Borussia Dortmund’s 75). The Portuguese showed his extraordinary qualities in front of goal last year as Frankfurt narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot.

Silva felt a move to a Champions League playing team was an opportunity he could not turn down. Leipzig will be expecting the forward to continue his goalscoring hot-streak, especially with such superb and dynamic creative players behind him in Dani Olmo, Christopher Nkunku, Marcel Sabitzer and Dominik Szoboszlai.

The latter will be returning from a long injury lay-off , and will be eager to finally get started at his new club after being kept out since his move to Leipzig from Salzburg in the January transfer window.

Szoboszlai as Jesse Marsch already knows, is a player blessed with tremendous creative qualities, and could prove yet another difference maker in a side filled with players with the so-called X-factor.

In Jesse Marsch’s only full season working with Szoboszlai in 2019-20 at Red Bull Salzburg, the Hungarian international was instrumental in helping his side win the domestic double after the mid-season departures of Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino and throughout his time working with Marsch, he scored 21 goals in 62 appearances.

As well as creativity, Leipzig are also blessed with much needed energy, dynamism and cutting thrust in midfield. Players like Amadou Haidara, Tyler Adams, Konrad Laimer, Kevin Kampl along with their talisman Marcel Sabitzer. Midfielders bagged with so much quality, certainly allows Marsch room to rotate in what will be a demanding season.

Possessing such midfielders means Leipzig will be a destructive team to play against, with their usual high-intensity, pressing and counter-pressing style, but with more need potency and creativity in attack. A perfectly balanced unit.

Leipzig will be looking to be within a shot of winning the league title when the time comes.

For the future, Brian Brobbey was signed on a free from Ajax – something Jesse Marsch heavily vouched for, even admitting that he visited the player in Amsterdam and told him that he was keen to work with him after the young Dutchman had doubts about joining following Julian Nagelsmann’s departure.

Additionally, Leipzig once again used the Red Bull connections to agree a deal for highly-rated midfielder Caden Clark in the winter transfer window from the New York Red Bulls. Overall, a busy but effective window, and there could still be another more accomplished centre-half coming through soon.

Despite the departures of Dayot Upamecano, and Ibrahim Konate, RB Leipzig find themselves well stocked at centre-back with new captures Josko Gvardiol who impressed at the Euros for Croatia, Mohamed Simakan, – touted one of Ligue 1’s most talented young centre-backs last term – Nordi Mukiele and the vastly experienced Willi Orbán.

Staying true to the Red Bull philosophy, the average age of their seven signings this summer is just 21.4-years-old, proving once again that they’re focusing on the future. It fits in with the kind of model Jesse Marsch desires to work with, young and vibrant footballers who are willing to learn and improve, with real bags of potential.

There are real expectations for Marsch and the club to perform well this season. A top-four finish and another Champions League berth are the minimum requirements. But whose to say they can’t challenge Bayern Munich, and even go on win the gong? The squad is certainly good enough and capable.

This season may see Bayern Munich possess their most weakest squad in a long time, and its an opportunity Leipzig will be looking to take advantage of.

They’ll be playing under a coach who knows what it takes to win trophies – unlike his predecessor.

In a short space of time, Jesse Marsch has become one of the most highly regarded managers in Europe after an impressive two-season stint with RB Leipzig’s sister-club in Austria, Red Bull Salzburg. Over the two seasons, he won the league and cup double twice, but more impressively, took Salzburg to the Champions League group stages – something they never achieved previously in the Red Bull era, starting in 2005.

There will be plenty of eyes on him, especially from an American perspective. American coaches haven’t always carried the torch well in Europe, and Marsch joins Stuttgart’s Pellegrino Matarazzo as the Bundesliga’s second American head coach. Matarazzo has impressed in recent years, taking Stuttgart up from the second division and keeping them there, and Marsch will hope to excel at a higher level in the table as well as in the Champions League.

Marsch has been open about his desire to press higher and harder than Leipzig did under Nagelsmann, telling reporters last month that the team “will be aggressive to win balls in the attacking part of the field and will be aggressive to convert those turnovers into goals and big chances.” That all spells such exciting news for the Leipzig faithful, who will also be hoping that the club can continue to match it with the best clubs in Europe.

The UEFA Champions League will almost certainly test Marsch’s squad and resolve given that they’re still a Pot 3 team for the group stage, things are unlikely to be smooth sailing. Above them are teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain team now including Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter, Juventus and others, meaning there’s a good chance Leipzig will be drawn in a bumper group come September.

Nagelsmann took the club to the Champions League semi-final in the 2019/2020 campaign, a feat that Marsch can only dream of, but its certainly within his remit to have a go at matching.

With his focus on mentality, building a true team and fitness, it would be easy to label Marsch as a stereotypical American type figure; one who places emphasis on team morale, camaraderie and togetherness than tactics. But that is very futher from the truth. Jesse Marsch is a true tactician and technician. The American is intense and very much knows his tactics. He conducts all team business in German. He’s been in the Red Bull family for years.

Jesse Marsch also knows that most of his team already knows his system — it’s essentially what they played for years prior to Nagelsmann’s arrival. He just feels getting Leipzig past Bayern and to an unprecedented Bundesliga title will require a little something more.

Can he deliver?

How RB Leipzig could line-up under Jesse Marsch