Things we noticed: FC Bayern Reserves – VfR Garching 2-1 (1-0)
March 4, 2018 
Starting formations: FC Bayern Reserves – VfB EichstättWith Niklas Dorsch (5th yellow card) and Derrick Köhn (yellow-red suspension), coach Tim Walter had to do without two regular players. For them Angelo Mayer as left-back and Timothy Tillman moved into the starting line-up. Thus, the Bayern reserves started in a 4-1-4-1 formation that was previously used in a single match this season. The guests from the northern suburb of Munich opted for a classic 4-2-3-1 formation. In the starting line-up of VfR Garching was Florian Pflügler, son of World Cup winner Hansi Pflügler, also a player who was trained by FC Bayern. Semi Belkahia and Dominik Hepp, two other former junior players of FC Bayern, sat on the bench.
In case you missed it
At the beginning of the game, both teams neutralized each other in the midfield. The first dangerous scene had Timothy Tillman after a wide ball from Isherwood. Although he was on the ball in front of the goalkeeper, the attempt to lift the ball over the goalkeeper’s head was unsuccessful. A few minutes later Bayern had a good transition situation. Fein sent Tillman through, who put the ball past the falling goalkeeper. The goalkeeper then brought down Tillman, but the referee’s whistle remained silent.
The next transition brought the lead. This time it was Tillman who sent Evina on the journey. Last year’s Under-17 champion prevailed over his opponent and crossed to the second post, where Raphael Obermair only had to tap it in. An impressive action by Evina, in which the young wing forward proved an excellent overview of the game. All in all, however, in possession of the ball the reserves had their problems with the deep-sitting guests. The Garching team seldom tried it with well thought-out offensive actions. Their only chance in the first half was logically based on a long cross, that led to a scissor kick which Christian Früchtl saved beautifully.
After the break, the Garching men weakened themselves unnecessarily. Following a missing whistle, Orkun Tugbay called a few unkind words after the referee and had to shower prematurely. However, the expulsion motivated the players from the suburb of Munich. It took the Bayern reserves a few minutes to get used to the new willingness and aggressiveness of the guests. All in all, the young team was far too seldom able to develop dominance in superior numbers. The team had a few chances, but squandered them. It was always dangerous when the team managed to set Evina free on the wing, whose input was frequently dangerous. Both Pantovic and Tillman slid almost simultaneously past the second post on a low cross, and Otschi Wriedt also missed out in a promising situation.
“If you don’t score the goals in the front, you get them in the back” is an old football saying. And that’s how it happened. The guests, who are always dangerous on the flanks, used the next wide ball to equalize. Dennis Niebauer headed freestanding to equalize. In the preliminary round, the team would have broken up quickly due to such a setback, but this time they fought back in cold blood. Adrian Fein sensationally prevailed on the left until the baseline, kept the overview and found Milos Pantovic at the long post, who was able to re-establish the lead.
The final phase was dominated by the aggressiveness of the guests, who came too late several times in the duel and consequently got a second expulsion in addition to some yellow cards. With the victory, the Bayern reserves increased their lead over the third place in the standings to three points and are now trailing four points behind the highly favoured TSV 1860, and the team is well on track to reach both goals of the season (second place in the standings and a visible further development of the young team). The reserves will be traveling to 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 next Tuesday, and the match will be broadcast live on German television (Sport1) starting at 6 pm.
3 things we noticed
1. Without Dorsch there’s no strength in the build-up game
Last weekend, captain Niklas Dorsch received his fifth yellow card against Eichstätt. This loss was clearly noticeable. The record champion’s Under-23s rarely managed to generate possession in the half-spaces. With Feldhahn and Isherwood in the centre of the defence and Fein as the single pivot, there were three players whose build-up play is not one of their greatest strengths. Especially Fein is more of a player who can tear spaces with the ball at his foot, but rarely by clever passing. The strongest central defender Felix Götze was used in the right full-back position.
2. Wriedt out of form
Right on his first day at FC Bayern Wriedt scored against FC Schweinfurt in August and played a great first half of the season. Also because Sandro Wagner wasn’t there at that time, he certainly earned his place with the first team in Leipzig and Mönchengladbach. But in 2018 “Otschi”, as he is called, has not yet found his form. After Tim Walter had already given him a pause for thought on the bench during his trip to London, having been late for several hours at the rendezvous point, he has not yet been able return to his previous good performances. Certainly Wriedt will aim for a change to a higher league by the increased attention around his person. To do so, however, he will have to show more in the next few weeks if it is to be enough for the second Bundesliga one day.
3. The team gains three points in a bad game
With such an enormously young team as the Bayern reserves, it is imperative to take into account setbacks and fluctuations in performance. These were visible a little too often in the first half of the season, but the team is increasingly able to overcome this weakness. Today, the team’s performance curve turned downwards and yet the team clinched three points. Tim Walter found the right words for this: “At the moment, however, we are characterised by the fact that we still win the games. I’m dissatisfied because the team didn’t show the commitment to what it is capable of and that I demand of them.” It will be exciting to see whether the team will be able to achieve a more convincing performance on Tuesday in Schweinfurt.
| FC Bayern Reserves- VfR Garching 2-1 (1-0) | |
|---|---|
| FC Bayern Reserves | Früchtl – Götze (65. Pantovic), Feldhahn, Isherwood, Mayer – Fein – Obermair, Benko, Tillman (77. Nollenberger), Evina – Wriedt (88. Gschwend) |
| Bench | Weinkauf, Türkkalesi, Crnicki, Awoudja |
| Garching | Große – Jevtic, Pflügler, Göpfert, Salassidis (77. Mayer) – M. Niebauer, Suck – Tugbay, D. Niebauer, Staudigl (86. Zimmerschied) – Tunc (62. Eisgruber) |
| Bench | Brenner, Hepp, Weicker, Belkahia |
| Goals | 1-0 Obermair (29.), 1-1 D. Niebauer (78.), 2-1 Pantovic (80.) |
| Yellow Cards | – / Eisgruber, Suck |
| Yellow-Red Cards | D. Niebauer (86.) |
| Red Cards | Tugbay (48.) |
| Referee | Wolfgang Haslberger |
| Attendance | 355 |
