It is hard to argue against the claim that Jamal Musiala is currently Bayern Munich’s best player, along with the German national team.
He is, without a doubt, one of the most promising young talents in world football, which is almost a paradoxical statement because of how long it already feels like he has been on the scene for both club and country and how much he has achieved in such a short amount of time.
After a strong EUROs tournament with Germany, Musiala has already made his presence felt this season. For Bayern, he has already tallied a total of 10 goals and 4 assists from 18 appearances across all competitions and he has also scored twice and assist thrice for Germany in UEFA Nations League play from the last set of international breaks.
His trajectory for this season is already on course to have him better his 2023/24 tally of 12 goals and 8 assists, but even amongst a star-studded support cast at Bayern, it does beg the question; is Bayern too reliant on the 21-year-old phenom?
In a recent episode of the Einfach mal Luppen podcast, former Bayern and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos expressed the opinion that the Rekordmeister relies too heavily on Musiala to create chances, especially against the stronger opponents they come up against.
“I think it’s extreme how dependent FC Bayern is on him. Especially against good opponents. You can be dependent on a player. But it’s surprising how dependent they are on Jamal to even create chances,” Kroos explained on the podcast (via MagentaTV’s Victor Catalina).
Of course, Kroos might very well have had Bayern’s Champions League losses to Aston Villa and Barcelona on his mind when he was sharing his view as well as the Bundesliga draws to Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.
From those matches so far this season, Der Klassiker was the only match Musiala scored in, though he was out injured for the Frankfurt match.
With Musiala’s innate dribbling ability, especially in tight spaces in attacking positions, it is easy to see where Kroos’ argument comes from.
There really are not many other attacking players that can maneuver with the ball in the same fashion as Musiala, and his evolution as a player has made him pop up in more and more advantageous situations, making it easier for him to create chances.
Perhaps Kroos might have been better off calling for Bayern’s other attacking players to be more productive in the final third a la Kingsley Coman, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Mathys Tel, Leroy Sané and Thomas Müller.
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