Unlucky Harry Kane a victim of circumstance in Bayern Munich

Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich could go a trophyless season for the first time since 1947.

Bayern Munich slumped to a third straight defeat following their 3-2 loss at Bochum on Saturday, an experienced they’ve not lived since the 2014-15 campaign.

The situation Bayern Munich finds themselves in has landed Harry Kane in an awkward situation as fans continue to point at his bad luck being the reason for the club’s nightmare so far this season.

Bavarians started the season with a 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, with England striker Harry Kane making his debut as a second half substitute.

It was the game many thought would finally see the former Tottenham Hotspur striker win his first silverware as a professional but the night ended with him on the losing side in a fixture Bayern had not lost in since a 2-0 defeat to Dortmund in 2019.

Though Harry Kane had put that behind him and started to do very well at the club, scoring goals for fun and winning hearts in Bavaria, with fans seeing him as an upgrade on departed Robert Lewandowski.

He could not help but watched from the bench as Bayern Munich exits the DFB Pokal in a 2-1 loss to third division Saabrucken.

Failure more about Bayern Munich than Harry Kane’s luck

Harry Kane has tried his best to help Bayern Munich stay competitive but the flaws of a depleting side is highlighted by the improvement of surrounding clubs, which was not the case in recent time.

in 30 games for the club, the 30-year-old has scored 29 goals and assisted eight others, making him the most prolific striker in top five leagues this season and on course to break Bundesliga record for most goals in a single campaign.

However, Bayer Leverkusen’s hell of a ride under the tutelage of former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso has left the fans in Bavaria conceding defeat in the title race this season, with Leverkusen now not only the better side but also eight points ahead at the top.

Sincerely, it has been coming for the Bavarians but a bit of luck for themselves and misfortunes for rivals has been them maintain their status in previous seasons.

Of course, a league (Bundesliga) takes 34 different matchdays before its title can be won, and slips can be forgiven over the course of a long season.The inconsistency of teams in the German top-flight has prevented them to really challenge Bayern Munich for the title, and the club went on to win eleven straight titles, despite their vulnerability in recent seasons.

Bayern Munich started to slow down in Bundesliga

Amongst their league success in the past decade, Bayern Munich reached 90 or more points on two occasions, and also won the title with 88, 84 points and more above 80 points.

Only twice did they win the title with less than 80 points, with 79 in 2014-15 and 78 in 2018-19.Recently, Bayern Munich have failed to reach 80 points in three straight seasons but have been able to maintain their winning of the Bundesliga titles due to the low level of competitiveness amongst their close rivals.

Last season, the Bavarians were second on the log heading into the final Gameweek of the season and unfortunately, they were able to retain their title thanks to a late winner from Jamal Musiala against Koln, but more thanks to Dortmund’s failure to beat Mainz.

In the end, 71 points was enough to claim an eleventh consecutive league title, edging Dortmund on both head to head and goal difference.

DFB Pokal highlighting Bayern Munich’s inconsistency

To highlight the shortcomings of Bayern Munich, the DFB Pokal presents us with a lens that reveal how the German giant has been exposed season after season. Bayern Munich has not won the DFB Pokal since the 2019-20 season.

In 2020-21, they were ousted on penalties in the second round of the competition, after drawing 2-2 with second division side Holstein Kiel, in a game that came after a 3-2 loss to Monchengladbach in the league.

In the following season, Bayern Munich defeated Bremer SV 12-0 in the first round. The helpess fifth tier side, who had only gone past the first round once in nine attempts couldn’t cause any upset, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting bagged four in the rout.

Again, in the second round, Bayern Munich came up against a much better opponent in Monchengladbach, who walloped them 5-0 to inflict a consecutive second round exit on the Bavarians.

Last season, Bayern Munich defeated Viktoria Koln and Augsburg in the first and second round respectively, scoring ten goals and keeping one clean sheet in the rounds.

They even cushioned their way past the round of 16 thanks to a 4-0 win away to ten man Mainz. Unfortunately, their inconsistency once again punished them as they lost 2-1 at home to Freiburg in the quarter finals.

This season, they got their DFB Pokal campaign started with a 4-0 away win over third division side Preussen Munster in September but were shocked again in the second round as another third division side Saabrucken came from a goal down to nick the round of 16 ticket.

The flaws that could be condoned in the league are very distasteful in cup competitions, and season after another, the DFB Pokal continues to expose the inconsistency of Bayern.

UEFA Champions League has also been raising alarm

Ever since winning the competition in the 2019-20 season, Bayern Munich has failed to reach the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League, suffering elimination in the hands of PSG, Villarreal and Manchester City.

In the previous decade, Bayern Munich never went consecutive seasons without reaching the semi finals of the competition and even featured three times in the final.

Despite their group domination, continuously they get exposed in the knockout rounds, due to the competitive nature of the advanced stages of the Champions League.

It is unusual of the known Bayern Munich of the past decade, a club known for its consistent consistency, arguably the most consistent of all the clubs, putting all competitions into perspective.

The decision to part ways with Julian Nagelsmann is proving a disaster as the team has shown no real improvement under Thomas Tuchel.

The recent loss has seen them record more losses under the former Chelsea boss than they did in 40 lees games with Nagelsmann in charge.

While this seasn will possibly go down as Bayern Munich’s worst, and Harry Kane’s luck taking much of the blame, it is however in reality more about the club itself, because this has been coming, and it wasn’t even hidden.

It is undeniable that Harry Kane is unlucky. However, his poor luck landed him in a awkward situation at Bayern, rather than it being a reason for the club’s shortcomings.

Hassan Afolabi