Ryan Gravenberch is having a fantastic season at Liverpool FC after mediocre performances last season following his transfer from Bayern Munich. In his only full season at Bayern, Gravenberch started only three games despite being signed as a highly promising youngster for €18.5 million from Ajax.
As Germany is set to face the Netherlands, Nagelsmann was full of praise for his ex-player’s rejuvenated form: “[Gravenberch]’s doing perfectly. But I expected this development because Ryan is a smart guy and a brilliant player,” said Nagelsmann via @iMiaSanMia.
Gravenberch seems to finally be living up to his potential, raising questions about his lack of game time at Bayern under Julian Nagelsmann. When asked about the same by Sky’s Kerry Hau, Nagelsmann had this to say: “It was complicated for him at the time because we had Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka in midfield. I was the new coach at FC Bayern and it wasn’t easy to put players from the German national team on the bench. For Ryan, it was a new situation that he had to get used to because he had almost always played from the start at Ajax before.”
Certainly a thought-provoking statement.
BFW Opinion
Soon after accepting the job as head coach of the German national team, Nagelsmann stopped calling Leon Goretzka up to play for his country. He also shifted Joshua Kimmich to play as a right-back: both moves he deemed unthinkable at Bayern.
A conclusion to be drawn here is that there exists a concerning amount of player power at Bayern Munich. The fact that a head coach found it difficult to bench two influential German players in midfield alludes to the players having more control over the locker room and starting dynamics than the coach himself — a recipe for disaster.
While not exactly comparable, there is still a great amount of pressure over the Germany coach and far more media influence, yet Nagelsmann had no difficulties making the moves he wanted to. Player power overwhelming the coach can even be pinpointed as the root of some of Bayern’s problems.
On the other hand, there is a solid argument to be made about Julian Nagelsmann trying to play it safe at Bayern and his consequent development as a coach. Did Nagelsmann see sacrificing the development of a young player as a fair trade-off to keep the key, influential players happy — a failure to fulfill all his duties as a coach; or did he simply lack the willpower to make a controversial decision at his first big gig?
One could argue that Gravenberch didn’t give Nagelsmann reason enough to play him, but there is only so much a player can do with 559 minutes played over an entire season. Also, Nagelsmann is hinting that he wanted to play Gravenberch more than he did in his statement.
What do you think went down? Tell us in the comments below!
Looking for discussion on Germany vs. the Netherlands, plus some conversation on Bayern Munich’s ongoing battle with Matthijs de Ligt? How about a dive into Alphonso Davies, his potential move to Real Madrid, and numbers he might be getting to move on? Great, then check out our Bavarian Podcast Works Show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @bfwinnn, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
