Hertha BSC – FC Bayern 2-2 (0-1)

3 things we noticed:

1. Structural problems stay the same

Willy Sagnol did not implement big changes in his first game as interims coach at FC Bayern, which is no surprise considering the fact, that he only had three days to prepare the squad. He obviously tried to work on mental aspects but this seems to have failed massively.

The structural problems as of last week were the same. Defensively they did not gain any access to the game, especially in the first half. Over their left side, Hertha had many opportunities to push forward again and again. Up front, Ribéry often tried to move inside, while Alaba took the outside route – unfortunately Tolisso was not able to cover up the emerging spaces.

Together with all the basic problems over the past few weeks, there was a way of inactivity visible, which was almost embarrassing to watch. The run by Haragushi, just before Hertha scored their first goal, was the perfect evidence of the passivity shown by the team. He ran through the whole FC Bayern defence with the option to find two of his teammates open in front of the goal.

The defence in general was the main problem. A successful Champions League run seems to be impossible with this kind of approach, as we all saw on Wednesday. In combination with an offence, that lacks in creativity and power some Bundesliga teams might cause struggles, even with all the individual quality at hand.

2. Martinez in midfield does not work like this

One thing a lot of people demanded for a long time was to play Javi Martínez in a central role in midfield. The main idea behind is, that he and for example Tolisso can cover up the gaps of the backline. However, the problem appears to be that the team is tactically so bad that even a strong defensive midfield is no solution to help out there.

To point out one thing: Javi is not the problem. On Sunday he played like he always did as a midfielder. At first sight his performance with four tackles and seven of nine duels won seems to be solid. However 62 touches and 87% passing are weaker numbers in comparison to Tolisso.

He is no creative player, but someone who can close spaces. Martínez needs a player next to him, who can create situations offensively. His performance on Sunday needs to be reviewed under the aspect, that the system around him did not work at all.

It would be wrong to count him out as a midfielder under those circumstances. In fact the game should lead to the conclusion that a partner like Thiago or Rudy is much more suitable for Martínez in the future.

3. Trouble everywhere

Surely the game against Hertha was an epiphany regarding tactics. In addition to that it showed that there are problems not only in terms of the coach, who has already been sacked.

Everyone expected the team to show a reaction. Especially from players like Müller, as a captain, Lewandowski or Boateng who all uttered critique regarding Ancelotti and called on the team to pull themselves up. Very few of that was visible on Sunday, although there were quite some opportunities to turn the game around at the end.

The performance in general and some obvious discrepancies within the team also became clear after the game, when almost no player wanted to talk to the media. Even the sporting director Salihamidzic had nothing to say, at first. There are a lot of things wrong at FC Bayern right now, but a solution seems so obvious. The first step should be to find a new coach and start playing convincing football again in combination with a different approach off the field.

FC Bayern lacks his own identity on and off the field. The good news is: There is two weeks time to regroup and refocus on those solutions desperately needed.

3.1: Get well soon Franck Ribéry!

Hertha BSC – FC Bayern 2-2 (0-1)
Hertha BSC	Jarstein – Weiser, Stark, Rekic, Plattenhardt – Darida (80. Lustenberger), Skjelbred – Leckie, Duda (75. Lazaro), Haraguchi (87. Esswein) – Kalou
Bench	Kraft – Pekarik, Torunarigha, Stocker
FC Bayern	Ulreich – Kimmich, Boateng (79. Süle), Hummels, Alaba – Martínez, Tolisso – Robben (59. Thiago), Müller, Ribéry (62. Coman) – Lewandowski
Bench	Starke – Rafinha, James, Rudy
Goals	0-1 Hummels (10.), 0-2 Lewandowski (49.); 1-2 Duda (51.), 2-2 Kalou (56.)
Cards	Tolisso, Kimmich
Referee	Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Attendance	71,212