Bayern Munich’s Defensive Issues Exposed In 3-3 Draw Against Frankfurt

Is this the first crisis under new head coach Vincent Kompany? After a perfect start, Bayern Munich has failed to win the last three games. A draw to Leverkusen (1-1) and a defeat to Aston Villa (1-0) was followed up with a 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

While Bayern struggled to score against Leverkusen and Villa, against Frankfurt, the team was undone by in-form striker Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian striker countered the early lead by Min-Jae Kim (15’) by scoring the equalizer (22’) and then setting up Hugo Ekitike (35’). Dayot Upamecano (35’) and Michael Olise (53’) gave Bayern the lead for a second time but then Marmoush (90’) scored late to secure Frankfurt the lead.

"Let's just stay calm,” Kompany said to DAZN after the game. “It was a great performance from the team today. We had so many chances. We probably deserved more. We have to keep going more simply, go our own way and have faith that such performances will bring us the results in the end. I have a lot of hope. What this team is doing is not normal. I have enough experience. If we continue like this, we will win games again. We have to stay calm"

Staying calm will be the biggest challenge in Munich’s volatile environment. Emotional highs and lows are in quick succession in Bavaria’s capital. The recent run is a great example. After all, Kompany was already compared with former head coach Pep Guardiola after an excellent start with big wins over Holstein Kiel (6-1) and Dinamo Zagreb (9-2).

The Zagreb result, in particular, might have been spectacular. But it also included a poor spell at the start of the second half in which Bayern’s defense experienced a few moments of chaos, almost leading to the equalizer.

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That spell was perhaps a warning shot of what happened against Leverkusen, Aston Villa, and, especially, Eintracht Frankfurt. In all three games, the opponents needed just a few good moments to capitalize on defensive errors by Bayern’s backline, anchored by Kim and Upamecano.

“Of course, we can talk about the goals we conceded, or we can talk about the chances we created,” Kompany said when asked about defensive errors, somewhat dodging the question. “At the end of the day, we coaches have to improve things step by step. Some things are imperfect, but I have to focus today on everything we did so well. For those who remember last year, this game was dangerous for us.”

Sure, the result was an improvement from last year when Bayern lost 5-1 in Frankfurt. But it is also hard to ignore the fact that Frankfurt needed very few chances to get a result. According to the Bundesliga, the match ended with an xG of 0.89 to 2.25 in Bayern’s favor. In other words, three Frankfurt corners were enough to steal a point.

That, however, was predictable after Aston Villa very much used the same game plan midweek in the Champions League. Once again, Bayern’s defenders struggled against quick attackers, and with Frankfurt’s Marmoush the most in-form striker in Germany, this outcome was perhaps predictable.

With all that in mind, the blueprint to beat Bayern has now been laid out. Teams like Villa and Frankfurt have shown that hitting the Rekordmeister quick on counters with fast and technical strikers will lead to success. Indeed, Frankfurt might have won the game if they had their nominal no.1 Kevin Trapp in goal rather than the, at times, hapless Kaua Santos.

What does that mean for Bayern going forward? The Rekordmeister opted to go with Kim and Upamecano into the season. Neither has shown the quality this season to be part of a winning formula in the current setup. That means Kompany will have to adjust his lineup, or the club will have to buy a center-back that fits his system in the winter.