Don’t hit the panic button with Mario Mandzukic
Photo: Wikipedia
It doesn’t take much to start a rumour during a transfer window. Mario Mandzukic being left out of the FC Bayern squad on Friday was all that was needed for the striker to be linked with clubs like Arsenal.
For readers who are unaware, the idea of Mandzukic being sold caught fire immediately when sporting director Matthias Sammer confirmed that coach Pep Guardiola left Luigi out of the team against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Sammer told the Sky channel that the forward’s performance in training was not sufficient. Within minutes, fans and the press speculated about a transfer. As if that was needed, Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer “admitted” that Mandzukic could be leaving in the summer.
Whoa
Instead of the panic button, let’s hit the pause button, shall we?
I am not going to write that it is impossible for FCB to sell Mandzukic. Many reasons make it silly to exclude. The team is one of the toughest in Europe for strikers. Talented players such as Roy Makaay, Mario Gomez, Ivica Olic and Miroslav Klose were all pushed out in recent history. Many fans will argue that a majority were delivering the goods. Therefore, the fact that Mario Mandzukic has been doing a fine job in Munich doesn’t mean he is guaranteed to stay.
Concerns rose in my mind for the first time in the early season. Luigi sometimes stared angrily at the coach when Pep asked him to hang around on the left instead of playing in the middle. The arrival of Robert Lewandowski this summer can also be considered as a major factor to irritate a player who provided a huge contribution, both in offence and defence, to Bayern’s treble under Jupp Heynckes. Indeed, it is hard to understand why Pep insists so much on using a false nine when Mandzukic’s efficiency on the pitch was almost never previously questioned.
Furthermore, Pep Guardiola has quite a history with character players who clash with him. He throws them out even if they were bought for him. Ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who still licks his wounds and talks about them publicly.
Should that translate into automatic expulsion of a guy who is arguably a perfect fit at Bayern? At the moment, I find this absolutely insane.
The club has seen worse than this situation. Everybody who discusses this topic and also reveres Franck Ribéry, for instance, also forgets that the Frenchman did the hell of a lot worse than Mario Mandzukic in 2009-10. Heavily linked with a certain team from Spain, he publicly stated “it’s Real Madrid or nothing” and refused to sign a contract extension. As convenient as the news were, a bit later, his personal problems exploded when he was accused of deliberately having “fun” with an underage prostitute. You can argue that Ribéry is a talisman and that Bayern would provide him more support than to a good striker. However, that doesn’t make the previous situation much better.
Selling Mandzukic would be a big step back for Bayern. Let’s remember the squad policy that chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has already made clear to Sportsbild: “We have two players for every position – this is our squad for next season”. By players, he meant players who can start. This is why losing Mario Gomez to Fiorentina was seen as a setback, but the striker was granted his wish since he was sick of warming the bench although his “team first” approach was never questioned. A Luigi transfer would mean having to go to the market – again – for a striker or tapping the youth system for a guy like Julian Green. While we can celebrate the American striker’s recent improvements, he has yet to prove that he can handle the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
It makes more sense to consider Mandzukic’s exclusion on Friday as a warning. “Get a better attitude or there will be consequences”. As an employer, you don’t throw out an employee for an incident. You consider the move seriously if repeated warnings fail to put the matter away.
Therefore, I consider it premature to talk about Bayern selling Mandzukic. It would be careless management on Die Roten‘s part. Not the kind of management we should expect of them anyway.
To support my viewpoint, I strongly suggest that you read Statistical comparison: Robert Lewandowski and Mario Mandzukic by Matthew. Both strikers have their place.