BFW Opinion: What Joshua Kimmich said about Arsenal is embarrassing for Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich were soundly outclassed by Arsenal on Wednesday. In what was billed as a Champions League clash between the two best teams in the world, the gap turned out to be much bigger than anyone expected. “Anyone” in this context seems to include Joshua Kimmich.

Speaking to TNT Sport (via ESPN) after the game, Kimmich seemed to dismiss Arsenal, saying that they were not the best team that FC Bayern have faced this season. It’s like he forgot the scoreline read 3-1 at full time.

His quotes from the game are profoundly embarrassing from a Bayern Munich perspective:

“No, I don’t think so,” Kimmich told TNT Sport when asked if Arsenal were the toughest team Bayern had faced this year. “I think PSG was the toughest one. Especially the way they play.”

“Arsenal is completely different. They rely on set pieces. They love to play long balls. They love to fight for second balls. It was a completely different game against PSG. It was more of a football game.”

“Today was not so much about football. It was more about game management and duels. Arsenal did this really well tonight. Their win was well deserved but we have to learn from this game.”

Okay, let’s dissect that

Maybe last season. This year, Paris Saint-Germain are not the juggernaut they were. They lost to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, sure, but that’s not all. They also have three draws and one loss in their domestic league.

In the Champions League, they only have the one loss — against Bayern, of course — but their performances are not the same dominant wins that they finished the season with. Against Tottenham, for example, they managed a scrappy 5-3 win. This was the same team Arsenal soundly crushed 4-1 a few days ago.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have earned their plaudits this season. They sit atop the Premier League table with only two draws and one loss (to Liverpool, somehow). They had not conceded a Champions League goal before facing Lennart Karl, and their defense is inarguably the best in Europe.

Joshua Kimmich might like to think PSG are better, but that’s just because PSG had a style Bayern could more easily deal with. Arsenal are the better team right now, and they proved it in the way they played on Wednesday.

Ask anyone, they’ll tell you that set pieces and long balls are part of the game. Game management and winning duels are incredibly important. Even Pep Guardiola himself would not claim otherwise. So why does Kimmich think that the Arsenal game was “not much about football”?

It demonstrates a worrying mentality from the Bayern Munich vice-captain, one you have to hope doesn’t filter to the rest of the squad. When the Bavarians beat PSG, the entire team put nine men behind the ball and bunkered down until the storm passed. Was that football or anti-football? If it was football, then Kimmich’s standards seem arbitrary at best.

Frankly, this dismissive attitude toward set pieces might explain why Kimmich’s own set pieces are so woeful. Every single corner from Arsenal was like an ICBM aimed straight at Neuer’s goal. Why can’t Bayern Munich do that? If they did, maybe Wedndesday’s result would have been different.

Why this matters

Kimmich is a senior player at Bayern Munich, vice-captain, and the first name on the teamsheet. What he thinks about a game like this tells us what the team thinks. And if the team is anywhere near this complacent about the way Arsenal played, then Bayern are in for a major wakeup call.

Let’s look at it this way: Bayern Munich came into this game knowing that Arsenal are good at set pieces. So where was the preparation? Kompany’s team conceded from the first corner that the Gunners got. We were told, before the game, that there was a plan to deal with the set pieces. Where did it go?

If Arsenal don’t play football, then why did they outshoot Bayern 10 to 5 in the second half (7 to 1 if you only count shots on target). Why did David Raya only have to make one save in the ENTIRE game? Isn’t it embarrassing, to lose like that and then say your opponent didn’t play much football?

Kimmich says that Bayern will learn from this defeat. Yet, if there is something to learn, then why dismiss the ones who taught the lesson? This level of complacency, frankly, cannot be allowed to stand. Kimmich’s statement sends the wrong message to the team and to those outside the club. It looks arrogant, rude, and frankly, stinks of bitterness.

Hopefully, those at the club don’t share Kimmich’s attitude, or else Bayern Munich will have to be content with being November’s runner-ups. To become an actual top team, we have to do better.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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