Deutsche Welle were a bit harsh to call Serge Gnabry Bayern Munich’s “only bright spot” after the 3-2 win at Hertha Berlin – the visitors didn’t play all that bad in the Olympic stadium, a couple of awful mistakes at the back and a general lack of a discernible strategy on the ball notwithstanding. But Gnabry had certainly been the brightest of players in red on Wednesday night. The 23-year-old wide attacker took up a variety of useful positions in the final third and scored two goals, courtesy of some very fine movement past defenders and expert finishing. 

The brace in Berlin took his tally for the season to six goals and four assists in 15 starts in all competitions. Not bad at all for a debut season at the club with the deepest squad in the Bundesliga, and better still if you consider that Kovac’s somewhat dysfunctional Bayern have been unusually frugal in front of goal in the current campaign. 

Serge Gnabry receives his Man of the Match award. pic.twitter.com/64Owg4K86B

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) February 6, 2019

There is still not enough joined-up thinking on the pitch. But the regression to Heldenfußball (hero football), a pretty basic game plan that relies on defending in numbers and individuals that can make the difference by virtue of sheer class up front, has ironically enabled Gnabry to shine. Unlike some of his team mates in attack, he has no truck about tracking back, and his directness on the ball has made up for weaknesses in combination play.

Only Robert Lewandowski (3.92 per 90) has shot more often at goal per game than the former Arsenal player (3.11), who’s made steady progress since moving back to Germany in 2016. The €8m Bayern paid to Werder Bremen, who had themselves brought the Stuttgart-born forward for a cut-price of €5m fron the Gunners – with some rumoured assistance of the German champions – has already proved a huge bargain by today’s standards.

Gnabry’s underlying performance numbers put him into emerging elite category for players of his profile and age group. His xG90 of 0.34 is particularly impressive for a wide player, and the overall numbers are pretty good, too, if compared to a veritable super star performer who plays in a similar vain.

Source: understat.com

Gnabry also benefits from his versatility. Unlike Bayern’s senior wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery who are both departing the club in the summer, he can also play as striker through the middle and help out as a backup for Lewandowski. 

As things stand, he has a very good chance to make one of the two wide berths in Munich his own in the near future. But in order to really become one of Robben’s and Ribery’s rightful heirs for the long-run, Gnabry still needs to improve. His low assist rate can be partially excused by the team’s tactical deficiencies but in combination with his high amount of shots from low probability positions, it also speaks of a bit of immaturity and selfishness.

He will have to learn to make fewer attempts from outside the box to get his lowly xG/Sh numbers (0.10) up by about a third, which makes all the difference at this level, and also to look out for better positioned team-mates. Most importantly, however, he needs to continue to work on his fitness levels to overcome a series of small injuries that have slowed down his progress. Gnabry needs as many games as possible to get better, and Bayern need him on the pitch or at least available more often, too. In an ideal world, he will need some more coaching input, too.

Unless Arjen Robben makes a late recovery to line up at Anfield, Gnabry can show the extent of his qualities on Merseyside in 12 days. When he played there with Hoffenheim in the Champions League playoffs (2017), he couldn’t do himself justice; Julian Nagelsmann’s side were defensively disorganised and he was a bit raw in front of goal. 30 months later it could well be a different story, at least as far he’s concerned. Bayern will need him – and one or two more heroes to truly shine – if they are to make it past Jürgen Klopp’s red machine. 

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