FC Bayern transferred €42.5 million to RB Leipzig for Dayot Upamecano before the season. So far, the centre-back’s strong performances have alternated with gross blunders. In the 1:2 against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Frenchman had a black day.
Julian Nagelsmann did not want to go into a detailed individual critique after his first defeat as Bayern coach. He referred to Upamecano’s good performances of late, and in general: “The whole chain has already done better, they weren’t as grippy.” The international started well on Sunday, looking stable and composed. But when he equalised after a Kostic corner, he was not close enough to goal scorer Martin Hinteregger. Shortly before the half-time whistle, he lost the ball to Kostic on the byline, posing the greatest danger to the FCB goal. To make matters worse, Upamecano also had a hand in conceding the second goal.
Good scenes and gross mistakes alternate. Upamecano already made a lot of mistakes at the start of the season in Mönchengladbach (1:1). Both then and against Eintracht, he received a kicker grade of 5, which explains his mediocre grade average of 3.83 in the Bundesliga. Despite all the justified criticism, it should not be forgotten that Upamecano will be just 23 years young at the end of October, so his development cannot be complete despite all the world-class facilities.
In a way, he reminds us of the young Jerome Boateng when he moved to Bayern in 2011 and was initially conspicuous for impetuous actions and positional errors. The end is well known: Boateng became one of the world’s best players in his position, world champion and two-time triple winner.
Where Upamecano’s career will lead remains open for the time being, but his potential is undisputed. His best performance in a Bayern shirt came in the 3-0 win over FC Barcelona in the Champions League (kicker rating 1.5). Upamecano’s ambition must be to consistently show this level of performance.
