Dayot Upamecano from FC Bayern will see his former club RB Leipzig again on Saturday. With a strong performance, the central defender not only wants to annoy his former teammates, but also justify the trust of coach Julian Nagelsmann. Because so far the Frenchman in Munich has been too unstable.
Dayot Upamecano doesn’t have it easy at Bayern. After all, the 23-year-old should replace none other than Jérôme Boateng at the record champions, who the Bundesliga leader let go last summer after ten years and 363 competitive games. The fact that Upamecano is the third most expensive new signing in the club’s history with a transfer fee of around 42.5 million euros further increases the expectations placed on him.
The defender does not want to compare himself with his predecessors. “I don’t put myself under pressure, because I just want to go my own way, just like they went their own way,” said the six-time national player last December in the members’ magazine “51” about Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba.
Upamecano’s first half year at Bayern shows that this path is rocky. The former Leipzig player has so far shown fluctuating performances at his new station. The low point was certainly the embarrassing loss of the cup at Borussia Mönchengladbach (0:5), when Upamecano, like his fellow defenders, seemed completely overwhelmed.
Also on the last Bundesliga matchday, the regular made a bad mistake. Upamecano played a fatal bad pass in FC Bayern’s 4-1 win over Hertha BSC and involuntarily prepared the Berlin consolation goal. Coach Nagelsmann then publicly reprimanded Upamecano.
Dayot Upamecano at Bayern with potential for improvement
“It’s totally superfluous and an unnecessary action,” said the 34-year-old annoyed at the “DAZN” microphone about the goal. Nagelsmann also criticized: “Why do you play the ball directly? If I now have 95 kilos and am very fast, I take the ball by my foot, dribble a meter or two and see what happens.”
In general, Upamecano still has potential for improvement at Bayern Munich. With a tackle rate of 57.31 percent, the right-footed player is clearly behind his central defender colleagues Niklas Süle (65.63) and Lucas Hernández (63.72). In addition, Upamecano always has one or the other wobble in his game.
At the same time, the Frenchman was able to show why FC Bayern paid so much money for his services. Especially in the two Champions League duels with FC Barcelona (3:0, 3:0) Upamecano convinced with his physique and speed.
Dayot Upamecano: “I’m not yet at the limit”
So it’s up to the defender to become more consistent in the coming months. “I think I can still develop and learn a lot,” said Upamecano self-critically in an interview with “fcbayern.com” and reflected: “I play in one of the best teams in the world. I’m proud of that. But I am not yet at the limit. I’m fighting for this jersey. I want to give the maximum.”
Upamecano hasn’t yet reached the optimum, but the great potential and physical abilities came to the fore again and again in his first few months at Bayern.
“He’s still a young player and has the task of stabilizing himself further. You need reliability in his position, of course there can always be upward swings,” Nagelsmann assessed the development of his protégé.
A look at his predecessor should calm Upamecano. After all, Boateng only matured after initial difficulties in his second year with the record champions to become chief of defense. Therefore, Upamecano still has every chance of a similarly successful career at Bayern Munich.
Jannik Kube