9,307 fans filled with anticipation packed the Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde to watch SV Elversberg’s first ever competitive match against Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga newcomers were hoping for another impressive performance following their back-to-back league victories, but despite a valiant effort, Vincent Wagner’s side were outplayed. Record champions.
Here are the highlights of Bayern’s 2-1 win.
Has Vincent Kompany’s rotation hesitation been justified?
Vincent Kompany has exceeded expectations during his two-year spell as manager of Bayern, but even the Belgian coach is not immune to criticism – with his reluctance to rotate key players constantly highlighted. However, the German Football Manager of the Year for 2025/26 may prove exactly why he is not being rotated as much as some would like.
Kompany made seven changes to his side that beat FK Bodø/Glimt 5-0 in the opening round of the Champions League – and the changes were felt.
Bayern achieved a fragile 1-0 lead at the end of the first half after failing to impose its dominance in the match. The rounded Kompany side couldn’t shift out of second gear. The lackluster performance was no doubt inspired by widespread rotation, which also manifested in Bayern’s immediate dominance following the introduction of Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, and Luis Diaz.
Did Kompany make a mistake with the rotation? No, should he have played his team at full strength? No, rotation and rest are still vitally important, but even with a deeper squad, the 40-year-old will have to find a balance between too much and too little.
Please only purchase the Acer Wing already
Bayern have begun the transfer window in pursuit of Anthony Gordon – a player who can provide cover on the wing and striker, two areas of the pitch screaming for cover. Ultimately, the transfer was deemed too expensive, with Gordon opting to move to Barcelona regardless. Bayern then decided against signing a left winger, choosing instead to trust Arijon Ibrahimovic to cover the winger and striker – an experiment that did not take long to unravel. Bayern now face the first half of the season with an attack that is still very weak.
Don’t get me wrong, Ismaila Saibare, Nathaniel Brown and Para Saboko N’Diaye were all good signings, but were they really in priority positions? I’m not completely convinced.
So far, Saibari and Brown have spent as much time filling holes in the offense as they have playing in their natural positions. Elversberg was a good example in the case of Saibari in particular, as he was forced out to the left flank where he was not bad but ultimately redundant. he He can Play striker. he He can Play left wing. But it is not so Any of those situations.
This is not an attack on Saybari or Brown; They are quality deep pieces for the first team. However, this is a big question that needs to be answered: why didn’t they buy a left winger or striker?
Newly promoted teams to the Bundesliga are no joke this season
FC Schalke 04 and Elversberg, and to a lesser extent SC Paderborn 07, have enjoyed an impressive start to their Bundesliga campaigns. Schalke are in 11th place after three matches, and earned a great point against Bayern last weekend, while sixth-placed Elversberg narrowly lost their unbeaten run after falling to Vincent Kompany’s men.
The most impressive part about Those are black and white and Royal blues It’s that they play good football. It is not exciting possession-based football, but rather disciplined and opportunistic football. A poignant reminder that the one thing is, there is no ‘right’ way to play football. If he gets results then he is good.
Schalke and Elversberg were easy wins on paper for Bayern, but they caused Record champions All kinds of discomfort – Bayern won’t be the last.
Rapid Fire Bonus Notes
- It was great to see Lennart Karl’s name on the scoresheet, although he may regret silencing the crowd in celebration after being verbally abused every time he got on the ball afterwards.
- Maurice Krattenmacher’s goal was brilliant. He joins the list of former academy players who have scored against Bayern.
- What’s up with Luis Diaz? That attempt reminded me of the back heel when Mario Balotelli tried to do something similar to the goalkeeper and admired it immediately afterwards.
- Kane awarded the Ballon d’Or.
- Ulysses’ brilliant ball would have been wonderful if it had not hit the wood!
- This is completely unrelated, and forgive me if a lot of people have already made this observation, but I’ve been reading a bit about Tim Bender and he could be quite the Tom Bischoff clone.
Register for a user account And get:
- New and improved notification system!
- Less ads
- creates Community contributions
- Comment on articles and community posts
- Recommendation comments, community posts
