Joshua Kimmich took his Bayern to the semi-finals of the Champions League – as a right-back. Wednesday evening (April 17, 2024) with the 1-0 win against Arsenal FC could be Kimmich’s peace deal with the unpopular position.
It is still not entirely clear whether there was actually an agreement between the club and national coaches. But the fact that this spring both Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann decided for their teams almost at the same time that Kimmich on the right was now the better option than Kimmich in the middle – that would be a bit too much of a coincidence.
Kimmich considers himself to be more valuable centrally
It is well known that Kimmich personally has a completely different opinion on this matter than Nagelsmann, with whom he has an excellent relationship, and Tuchel, with whom he has a professional relationship at best. Kimmich firmly believes that he is most valuable to his teams in the center of the action.
Joshau Kimmich from FC Bayern Munich celebrates after his goal against Arsenal
You can believe 100 percent that he really only cares about the team and their success. And not about his personal standing – even if he has been accused of that surprisingly often in the past few months.
To the ticker: Bayern – Arsenal arrow right Champions League, quarter-finals arrow right
Harsh criticism after many consistently good years
Looking back, the force and direction of many critics towards Kimmich’s supposed egotism is surprising. But it is also certainly true that the performances of the leading player, who had been consistently strong for years, gave cause for criticism.
When Tuchel pulled Kimmich back for the first time on February 24th of this year in the 2-1 win against RB Leipzig, he actually didn’t do much. A week later the situation even escalated when the coach replaced the ambitious player in the 64th minute of the 2-2 draw against Freiburg and Kimmich shouted clear words towards the dugout.
Good reaction to trouble with Tuchel
But the quarrel perhaps even had a cleansing effect; Kimmich was on the pitch for 90 minutes each time. And he apparently remembered how much influence he can have on events even from this position. In the national team victories in France (2:0) and against the Netherlands (2:1), he provided strong defense and still stimulated many attacks. In the league he prepared one goal each in the games against Mainz (8:1), Darmstadt (5:2) and Cologne (2:0).
With his gala against Arsenal, he may have finally made peace with his new old position. His influence can be clearly seen in the numbers: there were 90 ball contacts in the second leg against the Gunners, four goal assists and a pass rate of Kroos-like 93 percent.
Clever run in front of the header goal
But he didn’t want to talk about himself after the final whistle, so he celebrated the team all the more: “This victory was outstanding. We did very, very well, especially in the second half, and could have scored even more goals.”
He didn’t want to overestimate his clever run into Raphael Guerreiro’s cross at 1-0: “I was lucky that no one felt responsible for me.” The new job could have even been helpful for him: the fact that a right-back suddenly appears in the center forward position out of the game causes significantly more confusion in a defensive line than if a central midfielder also advances.