When Pep Guardiola came to Bayern Munich in 2013, he inherited an immensely talented squad that had just won the treble. Despite all of this talent, Guardiola had one major request when considering transfers: Thiago oder nichts. Thiago or nothing. While initially destined to replace Xavi at Barcelona, Thiago was brought in to help Guardiola secure the midfield, but he struggled mightily, with injuries resulting in him not really playing a full season until his third year at the club. While his initial transfer did not yield the immediate results, Guardiola’s insistence upon the Spaniards arrival has paid huge dividends for the Bavarian club, with Thiago becoming an important part of Bayern’s seven consecutive Bundesliga titles. His role this year has become even more important, with Thiago playing the fifth-most minutes of any player this season at Bayern.
This tactical analysis will provide a scout report on Thiago at Bayern Munich. The analysis will examine the tactics used by Hansi Flick to get the best performance out of Thiago on a consistent basis, looking to better understand how he has contributed to Bayern’s first-place position in the Bundesliga table.
Playing out of pressure
Thiago’s ability to play the ball out of pressure and find a teammate make him an enormous strength on the field, as this skill ensures that Bayern are able to maintain possession, even when opponents are circling. Early on in Bayern’s match against RB Leipzig, Thiago was able to get Bayern out of a tough situation due to his ability to recognise pressure and find a solution to escape it.
Just 38 seconds into the match, Leipzig had put Bayern under immense pressure, with Thiago intercepting a pass. As Leipzig began to counter-press and collapse on him, Thiago picked his head up to scan for options. Instead of clearing the ball out of the immediate pressure, Thiago was able to find Leon Goretzka, who was open in space. This allowed Bayern to progress forward because of all the men that Leipzig had committed to pressing Thiago. Instead of losing the ball in a dangerous space or turning it over through a clearance, Thiago picked out an open teammate who had a lot of space to run into, and Bayern were clear to progress up the pitch.
Later in the match, Leipzig were able to counter-press and apply pressure on Thiago and his young teammate, Alphonso Davies. Some miscommunication between Davies and Thiago put Bayern in a dangerous position that could have easily resulted in a loss of possession.
