Joshua Kimmich: Bayern's midfield fulcrum once again | OneFootball

How Joshua Kimmich became Bayern Munich's midfield fulcrum once again

Joshua Kimmich has flourished during Vincent Kompany's first season as Bayern Munich head coach. bundesliga.com takes a closer look at how the champions' mentality monster proved once again that he is one of the finest central midfielders around...

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Somehow, for all his plaudits, it still feels as if Kimmich's endeavours for Bayern over the years have sometimes managed to fly under the radar. This season, however, coach Kompany has thrust the Germany captain back into the limelight by providing him the freedom to pull the strings from a deep-lying midfield position.

Bayern's vice-captain has helped steer the record champions to their 33rd Bundesliga title - his ninth in 10 years at the club. Additionally, with periods of prolonged absence from club captain Manuel Neuer, the Bayern No.6 has relished the added responsibility that comes with donning the armband. But it's not the armband that makes the leader, and Kimmich knows that more than most.

Kimmich is a natural leader for both club and country. (Alex Grimm/GettyImages)

The impact Kimmich has had on Bayern's midfield this season and the consistency he brings to the table cannot be understated. The Germany terrier has proved pivotal in the Bavarians' return to the pinnacle of German football, featuring in 47 of their 48 competitive games this season (of which 46 were starts), accruing an unmatched 2,577 minutes in the Bundesliga along the way.

Even more impressively, since the summer of 2017, Kimmich has played 242 out of a possible 269 Bundesliga games (90 per cent), starting 233 of them. No other player at the club can match these numbers, and nobody's place among outfield players in the starting XI is quite as nailed-on as his

Crucially, too, the majority of his appearances this season have been made in midfield. This consistency, alongside his mentality and versatility, is just one of the many feathers in Kimmich's cap, but these attributes may have somewhat hindered his own game in 2023/24. Not helped by a superb breakout season from rising star Aleksandar Pavlović, Kimmich tended to be deployed as a right-back in the final few months under former coach Thomas Tuchel, with Leon Goretzka, Konrad Laimer and Raphaël Guerreiro all preferred in the middle of the park.

Whilst Kimmich is hardly a stranger to the right-back position - it's where he tends to be selected for Germany - the Bayern dynamo makes no secret where his preference lies, telling fcbayern.com: "I can make best use of my mentality in midfield."

Kompany may have ostensively heeded this preference, as one of the first decisions he took as Bayern head coach was to reinstate Kimmich in central midfield, which has proved to be a decision all parties have benefitted from.

The Bundesliga title aside, the tactical shift has seen Bayern concede 20 percent fewer goals than they did last season, which is a tesament to Kompany's management, especially considering the Belgian's only defensive acquisitions in the summer were centre-back Hiroki Ito and defensive midfielder João Palhinha, who have just 15 Bundesliga starts between them. Taking Kimmich out of the backline and deploying him just in front of it has led to greater defensive stablility, and that's not the only advantage of playing him there.

In central midfield, all facets of Kimmich's game are heightened. More space and more action in the middle of the park not only allows the No.6 to be a more effective leader, both vocally and by example, but he is also afforded more ground to cover.

Kimmich is one of the strongest runners in the Bundesliga this season, running an average of 7.7 miles (12.4 kilometres) per game. In absolute terms, he has covered 219.8 miles (353.8 kilometres) this season - the equivalent of almost nine marathons) - ranking fourth in the entire league.

His hard work doesn't stop at distance covered either, as he has won a very respectable 54 per cent of his duels in the Bundesliga this term, putting him fourth among his teammates, with most of them timed to perfection. In his 30 Bundesliga games this season, Kimmich has committed just 13 fouls and has seen just four yellow cards, only two of which were for fouls.

However, it's his work on the ball that has truly caught the headlines. The midfielder has been on the ball an average of 126 times per 90 minutes in the Bundelsiga this season, being in possession of the ball a total of 3,604 times. Both statistics are by far the best in the league.

Going hand-in-hand with his metronomic style of play, Kimmich has also played the most passes in the league, while his pass completion rate of 93 per cent is the fourth-best in the top flight. He is nearly entirely press-resistant too, with 91 per cent of his passes played under pressure finding their targets.

Kompany's tactical tweak to Kimmich's positioning in the 'six' role may hold the secret to his astonishing form in 2024/25. Bayern's vice-captain used to be more active higher up the pitch in this position, having returned five to six goals in seasons past, which has fallen to just two this campaign. But in dropping deeper, Kimmich has somewhat paradoxically managed to influence Bayern's offence even more.

As a deep-lying playmaker, Kimmich has made 71 key passes this season - the joint-highest in the league alongside Bayern co-star Michael Olise. His five assists are also the third-best return at the club, behind only Olise (12), and Harry Kane (seven).

Playing alongside a more traditional workhorse of a central midfielder like Goretzka or Pavlović as part of a double pivot allows Kimmich to do what he does best. He enjoys more time on the ball and acts as a midfield fulcrum, linking defence to attack effortlessly.

Opposing sides understand his importance to Bayern's transitional play and look to put him under pressure, but his deeper role combined with his press resistance allow for players higher up, like Jamal Musiala and Olise, to occupy more space, which Kimmich can then exploit with his trademark chipped diagonal ball into the wingers or into the box. It could be argued that Kimmich's refined position has also had an influence on the unbelievable numbers put up by Bayern's more advanced creative threats.

Having recently extended his contract, which was originally due to expire in the summer of 2025, until 2029, Bayern fans will be delighted to have four more years of their midfield marionettist, especially with him proving to be able to keep reinventing his game even at the age of 30.

Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl, likely echoed the sentiments of many Bayern fans, saying of his No. 6: “Mentality and identity – that is what Joshua Kimmich represents. He has internalised the DNA of FC Bayern over the years and embodies it both on and off the field. Where others stop, he starts. We are very happy that he will continue to drive our team forward.”

If he continues to play at anywhere near the current rate, Kimmich could easily crack the 600 competitive games milestone for Bayern. He would then be in a league that only Thomas Müller (Bayern's record appearance-maker with 748 competitive matches under his belt), Sepp Maier, Oliver Kahn and Gerd Müller have ever reached. Fitting company for a true Bayern great.

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