Good that this season is over! Three insights into the Hoffenheim defeat | OneFootball

FC Bayern loses the last game of the season at TSG Hoffenheim. FCBinside provides three insights into the match.

On the 34th Bundesliga matchday, FC Bayern lost 2:4 to TSG Hoffenheim and thus lost second place in the final table. The match provided the following insights.

1. Good that this season is over

The fact that Bayern’s disappointing season ended with a defeat is only fitting. The fact that they didn’t even finish second in the end only emphasises that FC Bayern needs to make some changes.

Not only are Bayer Leverkusen the deserved German champions, but now even VfB Stuttgart have overtaken the Munich team. Nobody would have believed that before the start of the season. Inwardly, Bayern had already ended the season with the final whistle in Madrid. Thomas Müller put it in a nutshell after the game in Sinsheim: „We just want to get out of the season now and start again in the summer,“ said the original Bavarian.

This fresh start is absolutely necessary, but the question is to what extent the current club management is capable of doing so. So far, they have been failing miserably at step one for weeks: the search for a new coach.

According to their own plan, they can’t even start planning the squad until a new coach has been found. Actually, contract extensions should now be negotiated, players sold and new stars brought in.

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It was recently reported that Bayern could sign up to seven new players. If you look at how public, haphazard and inconsistent the coaching search is at the moment, or if you look back at Bayern’s last transfer poker, it’s hard to imagine how this can be managed at all. The difficult Harry Kane deal kept everyone busy last summer, the Palhinha transfer was completely scuppered and in winter the search for a right-back was the most important thing. In the end, after a lot of back-and-forth, Sacha Boey was brought in for far too much money – but Joshua Kimmich then played in his old position without complaint.

Max Eberl, as sporting director, was supposed to bring in a clear line now, but the new boss seems rather overwhelmed with the search for a coach.

All these issues off the pitch overshadow the sporting side of things at Bayern anyway. It’s good that the country’s biggest football club no longer has to worry about playing football, at least for a few weeks. It’s good that this season is over.

2. Bayern give up another lead

In the defeat against Hoffenheim, Bayern once again surrendered a lead, this time a two-goal lead. That has happened far too often this season and was one of the reasons for their poor performance.

Coach Thomas Tuchel also noted this after the game: „In Stuttgart, we had the chance to clearly pull away, conceded two goals at the end and gave the goal away. In Heidenheim, we had the chance to go 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 up and lost 3-2. That happened again today. It’s just happened too often.“

Namely in Freiburg, where they only drew 2-2 after taking the lead, in Bochum, where they lost 3-2 after taking the lead, and at the start of the season, when they only drew 2-2 at home against eventual champions Leverkusen after taking the lead.

The fact that this Bayern team let themselves down after taking the lead is therefore symptomatic. Tuchel says he knows the explanation for this, but doesn’t want to share it publicly: „Yes, I have an explanation, but it’s not for the public,“ he remained secretive.

One of the main reasons is most likely that the Bayern stars are of the opinion that they don’t need to give 100 per cent like they did against Arsenal in the Champions League to beat teams like Heidenheim, Bochum or Hoffenheim. The results show more than clearly that the players are wrong.

Especially away from home, Bayern also floundered several times against „small“ teams. The quality of this Bayern team is simply not enough to win anywhere with an 80 or 90 per cent performance. If these times ever existed, they are now over without question.

Photo: IMAGO

3. The dependence on Kane is great

The game in Kraichgau emphasised once again what had already become clear at the start of the season: Harry Kane was a great transfer. The 100 million man did what he was brought in for right from the start: Scoring goals. In his very first season, he won the top scorer’s crown with 36 goals. That alone is an outstanding achievement.

But Kane is also an exemplary contributor to Bayern’s play. He sets up goals, initiates moves and even fights in defence when necessary. As a result, the Englishman has carried Bayern’s play this season. This became abundantly clear in the games in which Kane was absent.

That was also the case in Sinsheim. Bayern without Kane are a completely different team to Bayern with Kane. Bayern are dependent on Kane. Without him, not much is possible.

Mathys Tel once again did his best against Hoffenheim and scored. Nevertheless, the Frenchman is still a long way from being able to replace Kane – which is not possible at the age of 19. Even if Tel needs more playing time as a hope for the future: Bayern also need to add to their attacking options for the coming season if they are to achieve their lofty goals, including a place in the Champions League final dahoam. The dependence on Kane must not be too great in future.