Bayern Munich return to Bundesliga business after the international break with a game against relegation-haunted Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
It's high time that Mario Gotze feels the love from manager Pep Guardiola once again in a Bayern shirt. The Catalan frequently professed last season: "I love Mario Gotze," but despite these regular declarations of everlasting affection, the departing Catalan can only offer the much-maligned Gotze tough love at the moment.
At first glance, Gotze's Bayern record looks decent: 105 games, 34 goals and 21 assists. However, he's only managed to see out the full 90 minutes on 40 occasions and will likely spend the rest of the season in the shop window, starting on Saturday against Frankfurt.
Compare Guardiola's consistent shunning of Gotze to Germany coach Joachim Low's faith in his undoubted talents. Gotze's standing with the national side is not in question with the 23-year-old already granted a guaranteed spot by Low for Euro 2016. Scoring the winning goal for Germany in a World Cup final naturally helps his elevated status, but the 23-year-old repaid his doting national team boss in midweek with a goal and assist from the "false nine" position as Germany steamrollered Italy 4-1.
"Every player unquestionably needs his trainer's trust," Gotze said after an impressive hour's shift in his home stadium, before adding in the massive understatement, "I'm pleased with every minute that I spend on the pitch." His hour's work for his country in the Bavarian capital is already more than he's managed under Guardiola in 2016.
Since returning after five months out with a groin injury, Gotze has languished on the bench for a full 90 minutes in seven out of eight Bayern games, with only a 53 minute appearance against beleaguered Werder Bremen to break the monotony of his frustration.
Gotze's performance is sure to have impressed Bayern's next supremo, the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, but whether it's enough to earn a starting spot against lowly Frankfurt under Guardiola is another matter entirely.
This season has been another frustrating one for Gotze in a Bayern shirt, as he endured his longest ever Bundesliga scoring drought. Ironically, he ended it with a goal after 1,317 minutes against his former side, Borussia Dortmund, in the 5-1 romp in Munich last October. Just when it looked like he was turning the corner, Gotze suffered a groin injury while on national team duty in Dublin. Incidentally, his scoring record currently stands at a single goal in 20 Bundesliga games. Whisper this quietly as Bayern will not want to scare off potential suitors, should Ancelotti not fancy retaining his services.
Quizzed as to his future plans after impressing on national team duty, Gotze could only reply "I live in the present," but it's highly doubtful that Gotze will find the inspiration to turn his decline at club level around in the next two months. He's become the proverbial bit-part player in the big games under Guardiola. Most notably, he's been benched for five big semifinals, even though the squad was regularly decimated through injury. Remember Mitchell Weiser was preferred ahead of him in the German Cup semifinal against BVB last season. The very same Weiser who left Bayern unwanted for free last summer.
Such is their mouth-watering luxury of attacking riches, the harsh reality is that Bayern don't need the hugely-talented Gotze. Douglas Costa, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Kingsley Coman are all ahead of him in the pecking order, while forwards Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski remain remarkably injury-resistant.
Now that Guardiola's move to Manchester is a done deal, he's under no obligation to play Gotze or any of the fringe players for that matter as he concentrates on the serious matter of winning the Treble in his final season. Local boy Muller, record signing Javi Martinez, defensive rock Jerome Boateng and, more recently, the gifted David Alaba have all signed lengthy contract extensions, with top striker Lewandowski expected to follow suit in due course. Even Xabi Alonso, at the ripe old age of 34, got handed another year under his old boss Ancelotti.
Revealingly, there's been no news on Gotze, whose deal expires next year. While Bayern are unlikely to risk allowing their £37m misfit move for free, they will be understandably reluctant to sell to BVB, their only domestic rival. The Bavarian giants are only too aware that cash-rich English clubs, armed with their bountiful TV treasure chest, would be very keen to do a deal for Gotze.
Therefore, all the signs point to an exit this summer, and the obvious links to his old mentor Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool refuse to go away. The player, for his part, would be unlikely to risk his national career with a move to China, so England would appear the preferred destination. Consider the similar Bastian Schweinsteiger scenario; Bayern were only too happy to let the player go to Manchester United with a year left on his contract. These days, top dollar, or rather top pound, is almost guaranteed for the selling club with a Premier League premium.
Buoyed by his impressive Germany form, Gotze should end his current spell out in the cold at club level with a nice run out against Eintracht on Saturday. It should be a walk in the park, or rather, the Allianz Arena, for Bayern who've won six in a row at home against the Eagles, racking up 20 goals in the process and conceding just two. Going further back, Bayern have only lost once in their last 32 at home against the visitors from the Main, who haven't mustered a single goal in the previous seven meetings between the two sides. Saturday's mismatch also sees a Bayern side with the best home record in the league (12 wins out of 13) face a travel-sick Frankfurt with the poorest away record and a paltry nine points to show for their efforts on the road. The relegation-haunted visitors from Germany's financial capital are now coached by ex- Bayern defender and former Croatia national coach Niko Kovac.
Along with Gotze, Sebastian Rode is also in line for a rare start. The blonde-haired midfield harrier has only started two league games so far this season, including the narrow win in Cologne last time out, but don't be surprised if the underrated 25-year-old gets his chance to shine against his former employers Frankfurt too.
Just a minor cautionary note; after 10 straight wins to get the Bayern bandwagon rolling this season, Bayern did drop their first domestic points of the campaign in a tepid goalless draw in Frankfurt at the end of October.
Bayern remain five points clear of nearest challengers Borussia Dortmund with seven games remaining, but huge credit should be given to BVB for keeping Bayern focussed. Thomas Tuchel's rejuvenated side have garnered 64 points from 27 games at a staggering 2.37 points average per game. Compare this to Jurgen Klopp's double winning side of 2011-12, who managed 2.38 points per game and 41 times out of 53 such a points haul would be enough to claim the Bundesliga title.
At this stage of the season, the fixtures continue to come thick and fast and Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal first against Benfica also looms large on the horizon. Expect Bayern to aim for a two-goal cushion as early as possible against brittle Frankfurt and then slip into cruise control ahead of a very winnable tie against the back-to-back Portuguese champions.
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