Dayot Upamecano once again made a horrible defensive blunder, except this time he was lucky not to have cost Bayern Munich an entire competition, or even the match, which the player is all too used to to do.
No, Bayern managed to hold on against Cologne and managed to score a second goal before full time to take a 2-0 victory and all three points.
After the match, Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel spoke about Upamecano’s clumsy habits.
“I hope he knows and feels that he has our full support. We know his potential, we know his qualities. Personally, I know how ambitious he is. Right now, there are a lot of big individual errors that decide matches at this level. It’s true that Upa has recently been involved in many of the goals we have conceded,” said Tuchel (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Such phases happen to a player. He’s our player, I know his ambition and his potential. He might be needed Wednesday. Now is not the time to point fingers at certain players. We have to stay positive, he has all our support.
Given that Upamecano is already 25 years old and in his third season at Bayern, it seems unlikely that he will improve that much in the future. However, based on minutes played, center backs tend to peak around age 27, giving fans reason to hope that Upa might improve (SQaF).
As well as lending his support to Upamecano, Tuchel also mentioned that the French centre-back could be needed against Arsenal in the Champions League. Although the coach could simply say this to indicate that he fully supports the player, you can never be too sure with Tuchel.
When reports surfaced that the coach was a big supporter of signing Eric Dier, many fans scoffed at the possibility of him actually becoming a regular starter, but here we are.
Will we see a Dier and Upamecano duo against Arsenal? Will Upamecano finally solve the problems in his game? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below!
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