In the final preseason friendly of the year, Bayern Munich defeated WSG Tirol 3-0. Harry Kane scored a scrappy goal in the 3rd minute, João Palhinha ripped a beautiful volley in the 48th minute, and Gabriel Vidović tapped in the final goal in the 80th minute. As expected, Bayern dominated possession and the Austrian Bundesliga opponent never really threatened.
Vincent Kompany replaced the entire starting lineup from Saturday’s friendly against Tottenham, but switched the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 to fit the personnel. After scoring the opening goal, Harry Kane was dropping so deep in possession that he might’ve invented a new position as a false six.
João Palhinha is a smooth operator
Even when sliding into challenges, Palhinha never looks panicked. He was all over the pitch today, shutting down any sort of opportunity that came near him. Tirol’s attack quickly re-routed to the wings as soon as they realized there was no chance of penetrating through the middle.
Palhinha scored a career-high four goals last season for Fulham. He’s only had four assists in his entire career. How does a player like that deliver a precision finish like he did today?
This man is the real deal and will quickly endear himself to the Bayern faithful.
Gabriel Vidović and Adam Aznou state their case
After spending the past two seasons on loan at Vitesse and Dinamo Zagreb, Vidović is primed to play meaningful minutes for Bayern. His shifty style should mesh well with Kompany’s high press, quick passing system. He only has one year remaining on his contract, so this will be a transformative campaign for him.
Aznou’s role is more clear as an outside-back. Anzou might even start in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal, but the talent and experience ahead of him on the depth chart will prevent him from logging a lot of minutes this season.
He’ll play for Bayern Munich II this season, but 17-year old winger Adin Ličina was very impressive on the ball today. He consistently turned his defender inside out and nearly scored a powerful header in first half stoppage time. He’ll need to learn to release the ball sooner and play within the system, but he’s got a bright future.
Bayern’s win wasn’t on the scoreboard
As of the moment, it appears that Bayern walked away unscathed with no new injuries today. Hiroki Ito’s injury put a damper on his promising start with Bayern but for the first time in ages all of Bayern’s wingers are healthy and available.
Preseason matches and training are primarily about getting into shape, but that’s worthless if the player isn’t available for the opening match at Wolfsburg. Servus, medical staff.
Bonus observation: Catch you on the flippity flip
You don’t need to live in Scranton, Pennsylvania to recognize a great name when you see one. If you’re having trouble deciding which jersey to buy this year, take a hard look at #34 that was sported today by Bayern II winger Michael Scott.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.-Wayne Gretzky”-Michael Scott
[Editor’s note: Scott didn’t take any shots during the game.]
