Three things we learnt as Eintracht Frankfurt thrash Bayern Munich 5-1 | OneFootball

After a weekend away due to the postponement of their game against Union Berlin, Bayern Munich returned to action as they travelled to Frankfurt to face Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayern absence of football showed as their team were sluggish throughout the first half with the defence and midfield being consistently overrun by Frankfurt. Goals from Omar Marmoush, Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe and Hugo Larrson gave Frankfurt a 3-0 lead before Joshua Kimmich lessened Bayern’s embarrassment with his long-range effort just before half time.

The second half proved no different as Bayern struggled once again never grabbing hold of the game. Dina Ebimbe would grab his second of the game before Ansgar Knauff would round off the game after his goal was checked by VAR.

Bayern need defensive and midfield reinforcements:

The performances in the first half alone showcased Bayern’s glaring issues. Compared to Bayern, Frankfurt’s midfield (bar Mario Götze) and attack are relatively inexperienced but in the first half, they completely dominated Bayern. Hugo Larsson ran the show from midfield easily outplaying Leon Goretzka and Kimmich while Marmoush, Dina Ebimbe, Ansgar Knauff and Farès Chaïbi were nuisances throughout.

With reports linking Bayern to different defenders and midfielders, it is clear that they need a defender who can also play as a right back as there is a lack of competition for Mazraoui. While in midfield, Kimmich and Goretzka have once again shown that they cannot co-exist anymore and one of them needs to play next to a more defensive-minded midfielder. If they had invested in a ‘number six’ then maybe the second and third goals could have been avoided as both the midfield and defence were run through too easily.

Frankfurt’s recruitment shines through again:

Hugo Larsson, Omar Marmoush, Farès Chaïbi and Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe were signed for a total of €24m and outshone Bayern players who are worth twice as much. Larsson was influential in midfield, Marmoush and Chaïbi are slowly developing a strong partnership and Dina Ebimbe has further his game attacking-wise under Dino Toppmöller.

After losing so many key players in the summer, Frankfurt have shown that they no longer miss any of them and despite a few teething problems as of late due to their young age the quartet have proven to be coups for Frankfurt and has shown the work that Markus Krösche has done at the club.

Bayern Munich will not progress under Thomas Tuchel:

It has slowly been brewing at the Allianz Arena but for most of this season, Bayern have rarely looked impressive in matches and it looked like it would reach a crescendo eventually after an underwhelming performance against Copenhagen and today it did.

Several players looked off the pace, whether that be due to the lack of football recently or the vast injuries at Bayern but since taking over from Julian Nagelsmann in March, Tuchel has not improved the team.

The former Chelsea manager got lucky winning the title last season due to a moment of excellence from Jamal Musiala but for most of this season they have relied on the brilliance of Harry Kane and Leroy Sané to get them across the line in games.

Against strong teams, they have looked poor and relied on the aforementioned Kane and Sané and their defence has only looked good against weaker teams with Tuchel failing to improve them despite being more defensively minded than his predecessor.

Bayern do not look like they will retain their title this season and games like this prove it, and if Bayern do not get anywhere near the Champions League final then question will need to be asked of Tuchel.

GGFN | Jack Meenan