In mid-May, the alarm bells were ringing in FC Bayern München’s defensive department. Dayot Upamecano’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup™ was in doubt due to a knee problem sustained weeks earlier. It was then announced that Upamecano’s fellow centre-half, Kim Minjae, faced an indefinite lay-off due to a persistent Achilles issue.
This blow added insult to injury given that two of the club’s other defenders, the versatile Hiroki Ito and flying full-back/winger Alphonso Davies, had already been ruled out of the tournament with a fractured metatarsal and a torn cruciate ligament, respectively.
This injury crisis left the team on shaky ground ahead of the trip to the USA for the global extravaganza. Yet new signing Jonathan Tah – parachuted in for a small fee shortly prior to the expiry of his contract with Bayer Leverkusen so that he could feature at the Club World Cup – has stepped into the breach with aplomb.
The Germany international’s assured performances to date and the influence that he has already shown both on and off the pitch suggest that his capture may well have been quite the coup – and that the money paid for him was a snip.
It has taken no time at all for the 29-year-old to settle; on the contrary, he has slotted seamlessly into his new surroundings. “Right from the first few days, it’s been fantastic. The team have made me feel totally at home. Everyone’s been very welcoming and approachable, and we’re all on the same wavelength already,” he enthused.
Tah made his debut in the 10-0 thrashing of Auckland City FC and further impressed in the 2-1 win over CA Boca Juniors, once again playing the full 90 minutes. Just how important a presence the towering centre-back has already become was laid bare in the first half against SL Benfica: with the new boy rested, the Bavarians looked all at sea at the back and fell behind early on. Tah was introduced just before the hour-mark and swiftly shored things up, although his team proved unable to turn the game around.
After another solid performance in the 4-2 victory over CR Flamengo, the former Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Leverkusen stalwart is gearing up for the toughest assignment of his short Bayern career so far: a meeting with European champions Paris Saint-Germain. The French giants’ frontline have been running rampant over the last six months and, when they are firing on all cylinders, the challenge they pose for defences is virtually unmatched in world football.
It would be a stretch to claim that this could be a baptism of fire for an experienced campaigner like Tah, but it is in fixtures like these that the onus is on Bayern newcomers to prove their worth. Given all his experience, the 6ft 5in defender will be expected to rise to the occasion not just in footballing terms but also by displaying leadership.
“The club outlined the role that’s been earmarked for me,” Tah said when asked whether he sees himself as the main man to marshal Bayern’s rearguard going forward. “But you have to earn that. I’m someone who enjoys working hard, and I never take anything for granted,” he added.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany – himself a former centre-back – is convinced that Tah has what it takes not just to hold his own against Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Co, but also to make the club’s defensive unit stronger and more cohesive in the long run. “It’s important for a player to immediately feel comfortable after joining us. He’s got real leadership skills and is the sort of defender who’s very vocal on the pitch,” noted the erstwhile Anderlecht and Burnley supremo.
Getting to work with Kompany was certainly one of the factors in the colossus’s decision to swap Leverkusen for Die Roten. During his playing days, the Belgian tactician had a stint at Hamburg, back when local lad Tah was serving his apprenticeship as a budding youngster at cross-town rivals Altona.
“I’m a Hamburg boy, so of course I’ve followed his career,” said Tah of Kompany. “Even as a player, he was a great leader. As soon as I first spoke to him, I knew that I could get a lot out of working with him. He made a great impression on me, and I can keep improving under him.”
Bayern fans would be only too happy if Tah took the next step in his development by helping to keep free-scoring PSG at bay in the blockbuster bout kicking off at midday this Saturday in Atlanta. The German is likely to be partnered once more by fit-again Upamecano, who made a comeback against Benfica and followed that up with his second consecutive start against Flamengo.
Kim is also on the mend and returned to the matchday squad for the Round-of-16 encounter against the Rio de Janeiro outfit, albeit as an unused substitute. The panic that had set in a couple of months ago, when Bayern were down to the bare bones at the back, is well and truly over.
In the meantime, something else has shifted: the pecking order. The Korea Republic international and other pretenders may well find Die Roten’s new kingpin at the back rather difficult to dislodge.
