Can Bayern fans expect to see Thomas Müller starting here anytime soon?
Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany raised some eyebrows when he elected to deploy former Borussia Dortmund left-back and central midfielder Raphaël Guerreiro at the No. 10 position ahead of Thomas Müller, following an injury to Jamal Musiala.
The Portuguese dynamo put in a decent shift for the Bavarians on Tuesday, when Bayern lost 2-1 at home to Inter Milan. But was it good enough?
It certainly was different, as different phases of the same game can attest. When Müller arrived as a substitute he instantly occupied different spaces, particularly in the box, and ultimately came up with his rewards in the form of a very classic Müller-esque goal: bundled home none too gracefully right in front of the net.
But Guerreiro, despite his anonymity in phases, was not a slouch either, interchanging actively with his teammates in a congested central area of the final third in Bayern’s strongest phase of the game — the opening 30 minutes. The last time Guerreiro started here, he scored twice. And there was a moment too where he collected the ball to himself and hit it with venom on the half-volley, only to see it sail over the crossbar — but not by much.
Clearly, Guerreiro has something to offer to this team and to the way Kompany prefers to play from the start, even with the present injury crisis at his more familiar left-back position.
But has he shown enough in his two brief turns at the No. 10 to keep Müller out of the XI the rest of the way this season?
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