The England captain is counting on European glory to end his first season in Germany with a winners medal as his chances of domestic success worsen
The tweets have been pre-written. They're somewhere, lurking in someone's drafts. The memes have been pre-constructed. They're sitting in camera rolls, ready to be fired off in group chats.
Harry Kane is enjoying his best season in club football, but it is becoming increasingly likely that he will not end his wait for the first trophy of his career. That cruel possibility became closer to reality on Saturday when Bayern Munich were thoroughly handled by a far superior and more watchable Bayer Leverkusen side, who turned in a counter-attacking clinic to beat the Bavarians 3-0.
Although there are 13 games to go in the Bundesliga – and the gap remains just five points – there are few signs that Thomas Tuchel's wayward side can turn their league form around. The DFB-Pokal is also out of reach, as the Bavarians suffered an embarrassing early exit to third-division side FC Saarbrucken.
The Champions League, then, is the Bavarians' best shot at silverware this season. For most teams – even those as accomplished as Bayern – European glory isn't usually worth a sole pursuit. There are too many variables, and too many unpredictabilities. Attempting to establish control in a competition that sells itself on chaos doesn't always work out well.
But for Bayern and Kane, the need to perform in Europe is more glaring than ever. It's Kane's only realistic chance at ending his first season in Germany with an elusive medal around his neck.
GettyBayern's struggles
When Tuchel took the Bayern reins in March 2023, it was widely assumed that the former Chelsea boss would piece together a winning side, one capable of continuing the Bavarian mandate of Bundesliga glory every year. He did as such in the final weeks of the 2022-23 season, relying heavily on a Borussia Dortmund collapse to snatch a title that had looked beyond reach.
In a bid to ensure it would not be as close this time around, Tuchel received the kind of backing in the transfer market that suggested there would be little doubt as to who would win the title in 2024. Kim Min-jae and Kane arrived for big money, while the squad was fleshed out with the usual slew of highly-rated free signings from around the Bundesliga. On paper, this was a team set up to wrap up the title by March.
Things haven't been so simple. Leverkusen may be on a 31-game unbeaten run, but Bayern's problems start internally. It has been a long-time criticism of Tuchel's sides that they're not expansive enough, and are too cagey. Tuchel, we are told, underutilises his attacking talent, and relies on defenders for goals.
For this Bayern team, though, the problems are mostly at the other end. Bayern have scored the most goals in the Bundesliga – led by Kane's 24 – but are shaky elsewhere. Inconsistency at left-back, centre-back and defensive midfield have made what should be a juggernaut look very beatable. Some of the points dropped have been embarrassing. There was a 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2-1 loss in the cup to Saarbrucken, a 3-0 handling by RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, and a 1-0 home defeat to Werder Bremen, who hadn't beaten the champions in their previous 32 attempts.
Thomas Muller, a club veteran and 12-time title winner, summed it up in scathing terms after the Leverkusen loss at the weekend: "To be honest, I’m p*ssed off. To quote Oliver Kahn: 'What I miss from us players are the balls in the game'. We are showing significantly better approaches in training. It’s okay to feel pressure, but there needs to be energy and freedom. That’s missing in our game."
AdvertisementGettyLeverkusen expose the issues Tuchel's team
There's more to this than just personal motivation and individual errors. Zoom in, and Bayern's is an imbalanced squad, not working as well as it should.
The problems were exposed in full against Leverkusen on Saturday, as Bayern dominated the ball for long periods of the game, but were far too safe in attack. For long stretches, a back three of Kim, Eric Dier and Dayot Upamecano shuffled the ball around the defence, but forward passes came at a premium. And despite having remarkable individual quality in Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane, Bayern looked scared to express themselves in the final third. Their 61 percent possession yielded just one shot on target and an xG of 0.27.
And that defence, one that featured over €100 million worth of talent, crumbled at the worst of times. Bayern fell asleep on a throw-in, and allowed Josip Stanisic, a player they own, to saunter in at the back post unmarked to open the scoring. The Leverkusen second came from a breakdown, too, as Kim stepped up to cut out a passing lane, but Aleksandar Pavlovic didn't cover the space behind him, allowing Alex Grimaldo ample room to get his near-post finish off. Jeremie Frimpong's late third was largely thanks to the fact that Manuel Neuer inexplicably wandered up for a corner with his team trailing 2-0.
It was the perfect showing from Leverkusen, a meticulous dissection of a flawed side. Everyone else would be wise to take notes.
GettyThe price of success
Part of the issue here is that Bayern are supposed to compete for everything. They have lifted the Bundesliga trophy 11 years in a row, and, despite Leverkusen's irrefutable quality, will be expected to make it 12. Indeed, a vague sense of uncertainty in their pursuit for an 11th last season brought about a major shake-up in the structure of the club.
Julian Nagelsmann had the Bavarians alive in the Champions League and within striking distance domestically when he was relieved of his duties in the spring. There were, admittedly, some rumours of dressing room discontent, and the manager certainly had a difficult relationship with the board, but there was no results-based reason for his removal
Fast-forward a few months, and Bayern snagged the title on a dramatic final day, a late Musiala winner sealing the league in memorable circumstances. Once again, success alone wasn't enough. Within hours, club president Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic were shown the door. A new sporting director didn't arrive for three months.
As Tuchel, and many before him have found, when success is mandated, it's hard to truly win.
GettyKane's lack of silverware
History shows that Kane isn't the right man to end this spell. For all of his brilliance, the England captain has famously never lifted a trophy of any kind. He has lost four major finals, missed a crucial penalty in a World Cup knockout game, and finished second in the Premier League once, and third on two occasions. If this sport is about medals alone, then Kane's career is one massive near-miss.
He moved to Bayern to fix that glaring issue. Winners of 11 straight Bundesliga titles, and perennial Champions League contenders, they figured to give him the best chance of populating a currently barren trophy cabinet. Kane himself is not the reason Bayern are currently trailing in the title picture; his goals, in fact, are keeping them within touching distance.
Still, the Englishman's career has been defined by poor showings in the games that really count. He was anonymous in the Euro 2020 final, lifeless in the 2019 Champions League final, and touched the ball just 17 times in Saturday's loss. On paper – despite all of his individual accolades – Kane is not the player to turn this thing around.