Oliver Kahn, the former CEO of Bayern Munich, believes the German record champions are missing a specific type of player following their Champions League semi-final exit against PSG.
Speaking on the Sky program ‘Triple — der Hagedorn-Fussballtalk’, Kahn suggested that Bayern might currently lack a technically adept central playmaker, akin to the role the Spanish former international Thiago played for the club for many years.
«The types of players in Bayern’s midfield – Leon Goretzka, Aleks Pavlovic, and Joshua Kimmich – are very similar in their approach,» Kahn explained. «And of course, that’s how it is. We always asked ourselves about Thiago, who in my opinion was a very important factor because he was completely different. That special technique, the ability to beat opponents, those extraordinary passes. This type of player is currently missing.»
The former world-class goalkeeper assumes that current sporting directors Max Eberl and Christoph Freund have also noticed this deficiency. Kahn stated: «I can well imagine that the responsible parties are thinking exactly about this and that they would gladly have such a midfielder in the squad again in the future.»
Thiago played for FC Bayern for seven years
Thiago, who has since ended his career, played for Bayern from 2013 to 2020. He arrived as an explicit wish of then-coach Pep Guardiola and was a regular starter and key player for years. During his time in Munich, he won seven German championships and the Champions League, among other titles.
However, there have been few rumors circulating around Bayern regarding a new central midfield signing. Although Leon Goretzka is leaving the club upon his contract’s expiry, his squad place will likely be taken by Noel Aseko, currently on loan at Hannover 96. The transfer market priorities are said to be a high-caliber alternative to Luis Diaz on the left wing and the signing of a new right-back.
Oliver Kahn misses a Plan B at FC Bayern
Bayern missed out on reaching the Champions League final on Wednesday evening after a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena against defending champions PSG. Kahn criticized two main aspects of his former club’s performance: a lack of game control and the absence of an alternative plan. «When this system doesn’t work one hundred percent, things can go wrong very quickly,» he stated.
Kahn speculated: «Probably, they were a bit self-deceived. When you concede many goals and still win, problems and mistakes are covered up. Perhaps the team became too complacent because of it and thought: it will work again, we’ll score at least one or two goals anyway. That’s the basic attitude.»
The 56-year-old felt the praise after Bayern’s spectacular 4-5 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg went too far: «When you look at other games, for example, Arsenal against Atletico, many people said: it was boring. And then it was said that Bayern’s game was much better. Yes, in terms of attractiveness, it was great. But that’s exactly what I mean by control. If you want to be successful at the highest level in the Champions League, you have to control games for long stretches. How you do that, with which tactics, varies. But I had neither the feeling of control in the first leg in Paris nor yesterday in the return leg.»
Kahn’s conclusion: «I think that’s exactly what needs to be considered: what other options are there besides constant full attack? Is there a Plan B or even a Plan C?»
Thiago’s record at FC Bayern
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Titles |
| 255 | 31 | 37 | 34 | 17 |