FC Bayern: Alaba bill does not work

“We are very well occupied in this position,” replied Hasan Salihamidzic in an interview ahead of the 6-2 Champions League win over FC Salzburg on “Sky”. The probable departure of David Alaba at the end of the season does not make Bayern Munich’s sporting director nervous from a sporting point of view. “David is still there all season. We also have Jérôme Boateng, we have Benjamin Pavard, we have Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernández. Javi Martínez can also play in this position. We are not looking for anything.”

Something surprising, since the Austrian, one of the most important pillars of the last decade, would leave the club. A player who won titles with the record champions of Germany like almost no one before him. Nine German championships are Bundesliga records: in addition to the 28-year-old, only Franck Ribéry and Thomas Müller won the cup with the same frequency. There are also two victories in the Champions League and six in the DFB Cup.

In addition, Salihamidzic stressed in the same interview a few seconds before that from an economic point of view it would amount to a “worst case scenario” if “such a player were lost for free”.

You don’t have to be a master of “reading between the lines” to realize that leaving the Munich defense team would also weaken the Munich defense department from a sporting point of view. In any case, more than “Brazzo” wanted to admit in front of the television cameras.

If you think about Bayern’s 1A defense without Alaba in the short term, it would look like this: Pavard, Süle, Hernández, Davies.

The problem: If one of the two remaining left feet, Hernandez or Davies, is injured, Flick would have to occupy the left positions with his right foot. It is feasible, but not the optimal state.

Last season Bayern struggled with a central defense in several games in which both players have the same strong foot. In the 4-1 victory in Cologne, for example, Hernández (left) played for a time alongside Alaba (right), both left-handed. After the game, Neuer realized: “It was not easy with two central defenders going over the left foot. The preparation game was not that easy, we had to hit a lot of long balls and we didn’t have as much flow.”

Flick also indicated often this past season that he would like a left and right foot combination for his center back. For this reason alone, Bavaria should provide a high-quality left leg replacement in the event of an Alaba departure.

However, Salihamidzic refers to players who are already in the squad. In addition to the above, he also argues with names like Boateng and Martínez. He’s basically right that both of them can perform outstandingly in the center-back role, but the future should no longer belong to both of them at age 32. Especially since the contracts of the two also expire in the summer.

For two years, there have been rumors of emigration about the two very deserved players (eight championship titles each, two triples). Boateng has already been publicly advised by former Bayern president Uli Hoeneß to look for a new club, as he was completely left out of Flick’s predecessor Niko Kovac.

Martínez was about to say goodbye in the summer, he was “a certain age”, Flick had stressed over and over again recently, making it clear that he no longer plans with the Spanish in the long term.

It hardly seems credible, almost naive for Salihamidzic, Boateng and Martinez in the discussion discussing a possible successor to Alaba with these players.

For the current 2020/21 season, Salihamidzic’s statements are certainly not vulnerable. Alaba will be available until the end of the season, Boateng and Martínez will continue to be high-quality alternatives in most matches.

However, the record champions also have to face the situation clearly. Because it is not unlikely that not only will Alaba have to be replaced after the season, but also his teammates Boateng and Martínez.

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