Weekend Warm-up: Serge Gnabry’s future at Bayern Munich is in Thomas Tuchel’s hands; Bundesliga predictions; T…

When Germany needed a spark in the second half of its loss to Belgium, Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry was there to provide some fireworks and give the Germans a jolt.

Too often, however, Gnabry has not been able to provide that boost — at least in the eyes of the Bayern Munich bosses. Because of that, the talented attacker could be playing his final months at the Allianz Arena.

According to a report from Sport1’s Kerry Hau (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Gnabry sits atop the list of attacking players that could get sold during the summer transfer window — if he does not experience a re-Sergence under Thomas Tuchel:

Should the club offload an attacking player, the first candidate as of now would be Serge Gnabry. Whether Thomas Tuchel can get the player back on track will be decisive.

Right now, though, it seems as if Gnabry will get every opportunity to prove himself under the new manager. Tuchel has already talked of bigger roles for all four wingers (Gnabry, Leroy Sané, Sadio Mane, and Kingsley Coman), but it remains to be see how that will actually happen.

Germany v Belgium - International Friendly

During his tenure at Bayern Munich, Gnabry has been equally scintillating and frustrating for some fans. During some matches, he looks to be among the best and most productive attacking players in the world. In other matches, however, he can be mistake-prone or worse, invisible.

For the Germany international, it has really never been about talent, but consistency. When he’s on, Gnabry is an absolute terror, but Bayern Munich has not seen enough of that version of Gnabry to be convinced (at least yet) that the team will need him next season.

The positional competition is stiff and leaves little room for any of the players to fall into a prolonged slump. While none of the wingers has been perfect this season, they’ve all add terrific moments.

The trump card for all of the attacking players — not just the wingers — will be the formation (or formations) that the tactically-flexible Tuchel opts to use. Just by sheer numbers, there will one or two starting-caliber players riding the pine every week.

With the club seeking to generate some revenue and an overloaded stock of veterans eating up almost all of the playing time in the team’s attack, you can absolutely envision the sale of a key player this summer.

Will Gnabry do enough to ensure that it is not his name being bandied about in the rage in just a few months?

Maybe, but he can ill-afford a crisis of confidence or a slump — otherwise, the Bavarians could once do the unthinkable and sell off one of their most explosive and dangerous weapons.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 2, Episode 38 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich had one hell of week since the last recording of the Weekend Warm-up Podcast.

Immediately after I hit the road for Richmond last weekend, the world fell for Julian Nagelsmann. By the time I hit my destination, Nagelsmann has been fired, Tuchel was linked to the job, and chaos had ensured.

It was completely wild and BFW was here for ALL of it. Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

What we can take away from Germany’s performance during the international break.
Ryan Gravenberch’s feud with Julian Nagelsmann and why he needs to grow up.
Thoughts on the firing of Nagelsmann, the hiring of Thomas Tuchel, and why this is a so risky.
What the sudden change might mean for the roster — especially during the summer transfer window.

Song of the Week: “The Boys are Back” by Dropkick Murphys

You know…Bayern Munich is back at the Allianz Arena and this is a gargantuan game. Let’s break out one to get the blood flowing a bit:

Entertainment Rundown

The Mandalorian

Season 3, Episode 5

The latest episode of The Mandalorian followed its own successful formula of offering a plot based on a specific “mission” (Pirates leader Gorian Shard invades Nevarro and High Magistrate Greef Karga aka Carl Weathers, Mandalorians are eventually called into the save the day), while touching on the overarching theme of the season — the jailbreak for Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and the deep cover of Imperial soldiers within the New Republic.
We also got a Rebels throwback to the character Zeb Orrelios. While I did not watch that show, I do know that the appearance of Zeb Orrelios could open the door to several characters from that show. It does seem like that is where all of this headed…so I guess I have to go back and watch Rebels (get me our resident Star Wars nerd Phil on the hotline!)
Regardless, a key point to the plot progressing was X-wing pilot Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), beginning to put together that there is something amiss with the remnants of the Empire.
Teva was a glue piece to this episode. He was involved in every major plot point in one way or another.
Colonel Tuttle was a bumbling mess — as expertly portrayed by Tim Meadows.
It always cracks me up where Disney decides to cut costs. They evacuated a whole damn city and when they got to the meeting place, there were like 15 people there. Come on man…
I did thoroughly enjoy watching the Mandalorians destroy the pirates.
When Teva discovers Gideon’s damaged transport and no sign of Gideon, speculation can begin as to what happened. Gideon, who was a leader in destroying Mandalore for The Empire, is obviously a wanted man. The key piece to this scene is that there appears to be some Mandalorian armor at the scene of the crime.
This plotline could be another way to integrate The Mandalorian with The Book of Boba Fett as we could see the shows intermingle even more due to Gideon.
I like the direction of where this is all headed, we are going to get a massive showdown at some point during this season. I can see why some people are put off by the format, but it works for my dumb brain.

House of the Dragon

You have to wonder if the slow start to last season played a role in this decision. The danger, of course, is that when Game of Thrones opted to take away the little nuances to the story, the show felt rushed and impulsive:

Well…

Bavarian Podcast Works: Preview Show — Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (Bavarian Football Works)

Well, this is a hell of way for Thomas Tuchel to get his feet wet at Bayern Munich, huh?

Tuchel will lead the Bavarians against his old club — Borussia Dortmund — in a match that will have massive implications in the Bundesliga title race. Yes, this edition of Der Klassiker will have a championship look and feel, plus a lot of uncertainty from a Bayern Munich standpoint.

With BVB sitting atop the table, the Bavarians can ill-afford a loss. Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

A look at where each team sits in the table and their recent form.
Some thoughts about what kind of impact Tuchel can have in this match.
A complete guess at how Tuchel will line up and who might start.
A prediction on the match.

Predictions

Thomas Tuchel’s first match at Bayern Munich figures to be a barnburner. A game that will have major title implications, between two archrivals — including his ex-team.

Slim Reaper…welcome to the TerrorDome.

Edin Terzic has done a terrific job and we could talk tactics and strategies for days on how this might play out, but it does come down to this — Borussia Dortmund needs to prove it can handle topping Bayern Munich in a game of this magnitude with so much on the line.

I’m not saying it can’t happen…it just won’t happen on Saturday.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

Other Bundesliga Match Day 26 predictions include: