Bayern Munich’s season hasn’t entirely all gone to plan. After putting Hansi Flick in charge in November, Bayern have progressed up the Bundesliga table, finding themselves in first place, four points ahead of their rivals, Borussia Dortmund. One of the key struggles that Flick has had to overcome is injuries, particularly those to his centre-backs. While having Lucas Hernández, Niklas Süle, David Alaba, and Jérôme Boateng on the roster, both Hernández and Süle have battled their own long-term injuries this season. This has opened up the opportunity for Boateng to line up next to Alaba consistently for the Bavarian club an opportunity of which he has looked to take advantage. Boateng’s contract expires in June of 2021, and there have been rumours of him leaving Bayern this summer.
This tactical analysis provides a scout report on Jérôme Boateng under Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich. The analysis of Boateng functioning in Flick’s tactics will highlight Boateng’s strengths and weaknesses at Bayern Munich. While Boateng is 31 and soon entering the final year of his contract in Bavaria, he can still help fortify most defences in Europe, should he choose to leave.
Defensive positioning
As a central defender, Boateng’s most important job is obviously to prevent opponents from scoring. One of his best qualities that allow him to do this so successfully comes down to the positioning he takes. Boateng does well to consider the ball, his opponents, and the space that he is trying to protect in order to effectively shut down attacks. The first example comes from Bayern Munich’s match against RB Leipzig.
Dani Olmo recovered a loose ball in Bayern’s half, causing the Bayern defence to scramble to organise. Here, Boateng is alone against both Dani Olmo and Timo Werner. Most times, Leipzig would look to create this numerical and qualitative overload; however, Boateng used his positioning to beat out his opponents. His first two steps were not directly toward Werner, but rather back towards his own goal. While this allowed Werner to open up out wide, it eliminated Olmo’s possibility of playing an early pass into the penalty area. This forced Olmo to play Werner the ball. Boateng didn’t immediately step to Werner, knowing that the quicker winger would likely beat him and go in on goal. Instead, knowing Werner had no angle to shoot, Boateng backed off, daring him to cross. Werner attempted to do so, and Boateng was able to deflect it out of the penalty area.
In the match against Leipzig, Boateng was often tasked with the responsibility to man-mark Timo Werner. This would happen any time Benjamin Pavard would push higher up the pitch, which occurred quite often. This effectively shifted Bayern to a back three.
