“Exactly what Tuchel is looking for”: why Xhaka could have solved Bayern’s transfer problems

Tuchel and waiting for the «Holding Six»

What sounds like a technical term from the bowling world is really the “hot shit” from under the Transfer counter, traded only on the black market at completely inflated prices, so to speak. If you don’t believe it, you should ask Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel. He’s still waiting for a cop with his coat collar up and his hat pulled low over his face to appear on Säbener Strasse and sell him the player he wants.

They would have already taken pictures of the Portuguese João Palhinha in a Bayern shirt in Munich. His Fulham club had been told money was no problem. But because it is so difficult to find a replacement, the English withdrew at the last minute, despite the 65 million being offered well above market value.

It’s hard to understand that Tuchel is sulking now when you look at his team. After all, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, he has two top players who have stood their ground often enough in sixth place. But according to Tuchel’s calculation, 6 is not the same as 6. Because while Kimmich and Co. roaming between the defensive and attacking football worlds, a true “Holding Six” never takes a step too far forward. It is an indispensable life insurance policy, especially for play-defining teams with a strong offensive drive that want to keep the ball in the opposing team as much as possible.

Casemiro is “the best bodyguard in the world”

A good example is the Brazilian Casemiro, who won the Champions League five times with Real Madrid in the past ten years. It was only thanks to his uncompromising attitude that artists such as Luka Modric, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo had the freedom to express their genius. Years ago, Modric awarded Casemiro the title of “best bodyguard in the world”.

Of course, opinions differ depending on who and when you ask. Today, Spaniard Rodri is regarded by many as the ultimate defensive midfielder. Who knows if Manchester City would have won the Champions League in June without him…

Neeskens, Souness and especially Matthew

But even in earlier decades, there were style-defining sweepers that had the backs of the playmakers free and should not be missing in any hit list of the best sixes of all time today. In the 1970s this was mainly Johan Neeskens, the ‘prince’ behind ‘King Johan’ Cruijff. For the then Holland coach Rinus Michels, the two represented the ultimate mix of ‘creativity and destruction’. A few years later, Scottish rough-legged Graeme Souness came along, whom they still worship as an icon in Liverpool. Between 1978 and 1984, the midfield quarterback led the Reds to five English Championships and three Premier League European Cup titles – not without painfully riding into the opposition’s parade of many ‘ten’ along the way.

Lothar Matthäus is one of the players who was known less for his slide tackle than for his excellent game overview. This is probably why the 1990 world champion tops many six-point rankings in modern football.

However, he only wore number 6 at the start of his career, with Borussia Mönchengladbach. At Bayern, Inter Milan and the German national team, it was later the 8 and the 10 – and yet his defensive duty always came before the attacking freestyle.

Because Matthäus’s opinion is still important today, it makes you sit up and pay attention when he says a few days ago as a TV expert on the subject of sixes: “Granit Xhaka may have been exactly what Tuchel was looking for in Bavaria .” But it is known that the captain of the Swiss national team has switched from Arsenal to Leverkusen – for a relatively modest 15 million euros.

Does the royal transfer make Xhaka Leverkusen a title contender?

The extent to which the new head of the Leverkusen midfield shaped the team coached by Xabi Alonso in the first three days of the game is impressively reflected in his peak values ​​for passes, assists and possessions, which the Okta statistics platform published . . And while Xhaka focuses on his national team appearances against Kosovo (Saturday) and Andorra (Tuesday), his new Bundesliga club greets them from the top of the table.

Whether this is just a snapshot or whether the transfer of the king makes Xhaka Leverkusen a real title contender, will become clear in a week Friday. Then Bayer is a guest at Bayern – and in the top game Tuchel can get a close look at whether others might have done their homework better in the past transfer phase.