According to a report from Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich had major concerns about the amount of time that Matthijs de Ligt was spending in the…gym.
Specifically, Bayern Munich officials were worried that De Ligt was losing his flexibility due to all of his time pumping iron:
Bayern Munich coaches had become deeply concerned by Matthijs de Ligt’s lack of flexibility during his final season in Bavaria. Many behind the scenes at Bayern were left disappointed by the centre back’s lack of mobility during his two-year stint in Germany. Sources have indicated that there were increasing reservations about the amount of time De Ligt was spending in the gym and the impact it was having on the elasticity in his frame. Erik ten Hag and Manchester United were aware of those concerns ahead of his arrival in the summer
‘There was a feeling at Bayern that between De Ligt leaving Ajax for Juventus and then arriving at Bayern that he lost his flexibility and speed because he spent too much time in the gym,’ revealed a source. ‘There was little positivity about De Ligt from Bayern.’
Well damn…De Ligt would have bombed the sit-and-reach part of the Presidential Fitness Test here in the United States I guess.
True? Not true? Who knows? What we do know is that there were hours of game film to show De Ligt was the team’s best center-back for two years. Maybe a stiff De Ligt (hey-o!) was just better than his more limber colleagues…even if he had trouble touching his toes.
Whatever the case, De Ligt is now pumping iron in England, the Bayern Munich backline is still littered with questions, and no one is going to be around to kick sand in the face of Jamal Musiala like that old Charles Atlas ad if the boys take another trip to Mallorca.
Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show Season 4, Episode 13
Bayern Munich is on break, but that does not mean that there is not a lot to talk about.
We have a lot to discuss on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show, so let’s get right down to it:
- A look at where each position group stands for Bayern Munich at this break. What’s working, what’s not, what we should keep an eye on moving forward.
- Breaking down “The Kompany Rules.”
- Talks are going well with Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala — let’s talk about where things stand.
- The return of the Entertainment Rundown — I delved into The Penguin…let’s discuss.
Olise might just best at wing
Michael Olise looks like he could go down as one of those great transfers that Bayern Munich was ahead of the pack on.
Olise is regarded as a player who can be impactful as a winger or as an attacking midfielder. One of Olise’s only subpar showings for Bayern Munich was while playing as an attacking midfielder.
Against Israel for the French national team, Olise stepped in to play the No. 10 again and France coach Didier Deschamps was not all that convinced about what he saw.
“He didn’t have his best match. He knows it too as well, potentially. He can do a lot of things but there were lots of technical errors. There are expectations there. He has faced them before. He wasn’t disconnected but the start of the match didn’t help him – he can do better,” said Deschamps (as captured by Get France Football News via @iMiaSanMia).
Maybe, Olise is just better and more comfortable at wing. That is certainly how he has look for Bayern Munich.
Song of the Week: “Come Out and Play” by The Offspring
In 1994, I can assure you — this was all over the place.
While grunge was raging, The Offspring emerged out of Southern California with a completely different sound that fell somewhere in between punk, grunge, and hard rock. While the band’s primary influence was punk, not every song’s sound came across with that punk vibe.
Regardless, this was one of the biggest, most played hits on the radio in 1994. Enjoy:
Entertainment Rundown
The Penguin
Set in the universe of The Batman (Robert Pattinson’s version of Batman with Matt Reeves as director), Colin Farrell reprised his role as one of Gotham’s most infamous gangsters. The story (so far) follows Oz Cobb (no more Oswald Cobblepot for you traditionalists) as he plays both sides of the fence between Gotham’s two biggest crime families (the Falcones and the Maronis). The end goal, of course, is for Cobb to become the biggest gangster in the city.
We’ll see if he gets there.
The make-up and wardrobe that Ferrill goes through for every episode has been a massive undertaking. There is no way he sticks with this role for a long time.
- The campiness is still there a bit, but nowhere near the neighborhood we saw with the previous live action iterations (Burgess Meredith and Danny De Vito).
- One of the biggest positives of this version of the Penguin is that they wrote him as more of a less serious Kingpin (Daredevil) rather than a completely cartoonish villain. This Penguin is conviving, physical imposing (in a certain kind of way), unafraid to kill on a whim, and completely diabolical.
- The kid (Victor Aguilar played by Rhenzy Feliz) really does resemble Weston McKennie. Victor’s role in the show is really the main subplot — a kid who is a product of his environment created by The Riddler during The Batman.
- The flashbacks to The Batman were also really cool, as was seeing the fallout from the Riddler’s antics.
Rating for the first three episodes: 8.50/10.00
Game of Thrones
I am planning a release of the column and the podcast during the November international break, so we do not interfere with Bayern Munich coverage from now until then.
Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show: Germany takes on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Netherlands
Well, Bayern Munich is on break, so that means that the German national team takes center stage for the time being.
What better way to dive into what is going on with the squad and its preparation for the upcoming games than with the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show?
Germany has a litany of injuries to deal with as the following players will miss this set of games: Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, RB Leipzig’s David Raum and Benjamin Henrichs, FC Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen, Arsenal FC’s Kai Havertz, and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Robin Koch.
Meanwhile Jamie Leweling, Tim Kleindienst and Jonathan Burkardt all received their first call-up. Robin Gosens and Kevin Schade are back as well…and Bernd Leno actually turned down a chance to join the team.
Clearly, this will look a lot different than it did last month. Let’s take a look at what we have for this combo Preview Show:
- Assessing where the roster stands with all of the injuries and absences.
- Why Julian Nagelsmann is going to get tested during this set of games.
- A look at the position groups and who could get a chance to stand out.
- Predictions on each match.
Prediction Records
- Last Week Bundesliga: 2-7
- Overall Bundesliga: 24-30
- UEFA Nations League: 23-20 (current results are in progress and Thursday’s results are not included here. The full results will be available next week.)
- Champions League: 21-15
- DFB-Pokal: 26-6
- Total: 94-71
- Perfect Picks: 14 (when the score and winner is predicted exactly)
