FC Bayern prevented another cup embarrassment in the 2nd round. After the recent knockouts, the team is now prevailing at FC Augsburg. Also thanks to Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. The striker, who was almost always just a substitute, lends itself to bigger things.
Trainers do not like to be talked into proven trainer things. After all, coaches sense an attack on their competence when someone talks them into proven coaching matters. Julian Nagelsmann, the head of FC Bayern, is no exception. Or is it? Well, the situation is like this: with the record champions, after weeks of poor results, they discussed wildly whether it would not be better to give the team a man in the center of the attack. Whether a classic nine could not help to solve the serious problems in the end. Even the club’s alphas raised their voices and made pleas for the core species. Because the problems, the final cramp, had not let the team win four times in a row in the league and increased the pressure on Nagelsmann. Alarm on Säbener Strasse. Once again.
But the loud sirens have already faded away. FC Bayern wins (mostly, an exception was the surreal 2:2 at BVB) again and very clearly. Among other things, on Wednesday evening in the 2nd round of the DFB Cup. At FC Augsburg – a team that keeps hitting Munich – there was a 5-2 (1-1) win. And also because a classic nine, because Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting played along. The 33-year-old scored twice. He scored the important 1-1 after a dominant phase by FC Augsburg (27th). It was a curious hit, an unclear mixture of luck and slyness. From a short distance and from an acute angle, he pushed the ball into the goal, substitute keeper Tomas Koubek was waiting for a pass to the center and had left the gap open at the post. And later Choupo-Moting made it 3-1 (59th), a classic dust-off for the preliminary decision. The Neuer question was answered massively. Once again.
Already on Sunday, the striker had suddenly appeared from the sporting non-relevance. In the top game against SC Freiburg, he was a complete surprise in the starting XI – and scored. In a way that would later garner world-class compliments. He ran free in the penalty area, kept his opponent Matthias Ginter at bay with a clever arm movement and shot very well from the turn. A real striker. From a real striker. Someone who was somehow completely forgotten in Munich when it came to how Robert Lewandowski’s legacy was to be distributed. Also because Nagelsmann doesn’t really feel much love for types of players like Choupo-Moting. What he had already lived out several times at his stations in Hoffenheim and Leipzig. Only in Munich, where he couldn’t get past Lewandowski.
Whether Choupo-Moting is now the permanent solution or will be rotated out again in the upcoming games? Well, with his goals and his presence, he at least treats the coach’s alienation against a central man. And what does the coach say? For the time being, Nagelsmann is taking back the sovereignty in the overflowing debate – and trying the stupid everything-can-nothing-must phrase. Coaches don’t like to be talked into proven coaching things. Especially since Nagelsmann struggles violently with the fact that his own boss ranks are still presented as a talent (i.e. having to prove himself). “We’ll have to see. He’s not in the rhythm after all this time and can’t play 70 or 80 minutes every three days. And it depends a bit on the opponent and how we otherwise play around it.” But at Choupo-Moting, self-confidence is growing. “I trust my qualities,” he said, “and I know I can help the team.” Even now, when the in-form Leroy Sané is out for a longer period of time, a Kingsley Coman is still trying to catch up after injury, and the thoughtful world star Sadio Mané is in crisis.
In fact, the 33-year-old had played 150 minutes in the last two competitive games – almost as many as in the previous 15 games of the season (167 minutes). His record is very decent: nine appearances, four goals (three of them in the last two games) and two assists. Choupo-Moting delivers. “He did very well again. He continued his training performance, which is not so easy,” said Nagelsmann: “We are very happy that he is in our squad.”
The striker is playing his third year in Munich. In the wild last-minute transfer flood of the summer of 2020, he was washed up on Säbener Straße together with Douglas Costa, Bouna Sarr and Marc Roca – and was the only one of the quartet to prevail in his role, although he was the most surprising transfer from sports director Hasan Salihamidzic was. Nobody had this deal on the slip. He was supposed to stay a year, but after strong performances under Hansi Flick (32 games, 9 goals, one assist), his contract was extended by two years. It expires next summer. And then? Are Munich working on a big solution? Superstar Harry Kane has turned the heads of the bosses. Gladbach’s Marcus Thuram should also cause enthusiasm. And behind that lurks the super talent Mathys Tel, who has already shown his outstanding qualities.
So no more room for Choupo-Moting? “Let’s let him play a bit now,” said Salihamidzic: “He does it very well, we know what we have in him – and he what he has in us.” Because the striker, who was once said to be a feast for the eyes when warming up rather than in competitive games, is not only important on the pitch, but also as a social cement in the team. He is considered an important man for the cabin. Even in the complicated Paris star ensemble, where he was active before his Bayern engagement, with these giant egos around the superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, he was extremely popular and good for the mood.
In four games in the DFB Cup for Munich, Choupo-Moting scored eight goals – mostly against lower-league opponents. “I’m always happy to play in the DFB Cup,” he said after his top performance in Augsburg. “Of course our goal is to reach the final and win the cup. That’s FC Bayern’s goal.” Club boss Oliver Kahn noted the date in red on the calendar, as he last announced at the annual general meeting. Goals from him can use Munich well with this goal. “Choupo is a great player. He has a great presence in front of goal,” said teammate Jamal Musiala. “If he’s in front of goal I’m sure he’ll put it in. He’s really fun to play with.” Two games, three goals and two assists – “everyone loves Choupo” was the title of the Bayern Munich team on Thursday. Everything else is trainer things.
(This article was first published on Thursday, October 20, 2022.)
