Even after three years at the club, record transfer Lucas Hernández at FC Bayern has not silenced all critics. Although the defender has won everything there is to win since arriving in Munich, his performances often leave more question marks than exclamation marks. Is the 2018 world champion really just an extremely expensive follower?
A few days ago, Lucas Hernández involuntarily made the headlines again. The performance that the French showed in FC Bayern’s flattering draw in the first leg of the Champions League at RB Salzburg was “not worthy of a defense chief”, rumbled “Bild” reporter Tobias Altschäffl in the “Bayern Insider” podcast.
The journalist blew into the same horn as DFB legend Lothar Matthäus. “Lucas Hernández cost a lot of money, but the performance is disproportionate. The central defenders don’t bring any stability, they don’t convince in one-on-ones or in the build-up game,” Germany’s record international criticized the Munich defender in “Sport Bild”. .
Since then, a debate has flared up again about the German industry leader, the focus of which is the enormous discrepancy between investment and return on defense.
In addition to Hernández, his compatriot Dayot Upamecano also had to take a lot of criticism. However, the summer newcomer is more likely to have certain adjustment problems than the now long-established Hernández.
FC Bayern: Hernández again and again with inexplicable dropouts
A look into the sport.deNotes reveals that Hernández, who was ripped off from Atlético Madrid for 80 million euros in 2019, was rarely able to convince recently.
Only in the premier class did the left-footer receive a three-point rating for his performance; in the Bundesliga, on the other hand, he oscillated between just about adequate performances against Leipzig and Fürth and a complete blackout against Bochum (grade 5.5).
Hernández (right) also experienced a pitch-black day in Bochum
So, was Hernández really not worth the money once invested? The verdict doesn’t have to be quite so devastating. On good days, the defensive all-rounder, who feels most comfortable in central defence, is an absolutely solid sweeper who can also compete at international level. The fact that coach Julian Nagelsmann has given the 26-year-old confidence in 24 competitive games – with one exception always in the starting XI – speaks for itself.
Of course, it is also true that Hernández often looks quite old against individually rather average opponents. Sometimes he takes the decisive step too late, other times he is surprisingly easy to trick. These dropouts have become firmly fixed in the collective memory, as the comments by Matthew and Co. prove.
Criticism unjustified? The bare numbers speak for Hernández
So far, coach Nagelsmann has made no attempt to question his long-running favorite. Anything else would of course be sporting suicide, as Hernández’s neighbors have been non-stop in recent months.
The national player also continues to receive support from the management level. When Matthäus recently expressed his opinion, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic retaliated a little later and described the statements of the DFB legend as “completely irrelevant”.
If Hernández were judged solely on the basis of bare numbers, he would actually come off better in public perception. The defender does not emit a goal threat at all, but statistically he is reliable in his core tasks.
His duel rate shows 63.27% won duels, only his outgoing defensive partner Niklas Süle is slightly better within the team (65.15%). Even better is Hernández’ pass rate, which is a strong 92.58% of passes and is only surpassed by Gladbach’s Nico Elvedi (94.16%) and BVB veteran Axel Witsel (95.99%).
FC Bayern “in the Hernández trap”?
The fact that the Bayern professional is still viewed with a lot of suspicion is due to other factors. A hot topic is and remains Hernández’ allegedly extremely lucrative five-year contract, which – depending on the source – is said to bring him between 17 and 24 (!) million euros per season.
Some teammates therefore went into their contract negotiations with significantly increased demands. “Bayern is in the Hernández trap. He blew up the salary structure,” revealed an unnamed insider to “Spox” recently.
The result: Especially in the fan camp, but also in expert circles, it is questioned whether Hernández was really worth all the money, or is. It remains to be seen whether the discussion is always factual and the arguments are always fair. However, those responsible for FCB should have been aware that they had to be measured by the performance of their record purchase.
And in this regard, Lucas Hernández (once again) had room for improvement.
Heiko Lütkehus