The man who dominated Arsenal’s midfield would not be short of suitors if the European champions fail to make him feel wanted
Pep Guardiola will have his own cause to be perfectly relaxed about the future of Toni Kroos. Bayern Munich are, after all, the reigning champions of both their country and Europe. There seems little obvious motivation for a player, let alone a German one who features regularly, to leave. Guardiola himself, let alone the club, would be a star attraction for any player should Kroos need to be replaced.
“He is an important player,” Guardiola said when last asked about Kroos. “But it can go fast in football. Here today, there tomorrow.”
To be precise, today Kroos is being lauded once again all over Europe. His imperious display against Arsenal at the Emirates saw the 24-year-old complete more passes than the entire opposition midfield. Such accuracy from Kroos is the norm as opposed to any kind of novelty.
Speculation over his future hasn’t been lost on Kroos himself. “One week I’m replaceable, now I’m the hero,” he said after Wednesday night’s 2-0 win. “All of that doesn’t interest me. I’m just trying to help the team.”
Michael Ballack, who knows a thing or two about effective midfield play, led the plaudits towards Kroos during post-match discussion. There was a strand of irony attached to that; five years ago, the German football legend Franz Beckenbauer predicted that Kroos “could be the next Michael Ballack.”
Kroos personified everything that was good about Bayern’s latest win in London. Guardiola’s men controlled the midfield, with Kroos at the heart of that. In a wider context, Kroos sets an example as to how modern midfielders should try to play the game.
Kroos’s clever, lofted pass found Arjen Robben in the leadup to the Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s red card. Kroos also opened the scoring, with a wonderful curling finish which displayed a level of technical ability not common even in the majority of professional players.
It would be highly unfortunate if debate over that Szczesny dismissal and the struggles of Mesut Özil overshadow that Bayern, and particularly Kroos, were so superior. Even, that is, with the European champions short of their collective best.
Kroos has reason to be driven on by past heartache. He formed part of the Bayern team which lost on penalties to Chelsea in the Champions League final of May 2012.
He missed Bayern’s subsequent Champions League triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley after suffering an injury last April. Until that point, Kroos had become a midfield regular in both his club and national side. Despite his tender years, Kroos has already amassed 41 caps in a German side which is hardly short on options.
And yet earlier, as perhaps now, Kroos’s Bayern prospects hung in the balance. He had burst on to the scene as a 17-year-old which, at the time, made him the youngest player to turn out for Bayern in a first-team game. In January 2009, Kroos was sent for an 18-month loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen in what offered a subtle hint that his rapid progress had stalled.
Upon return to Bayern, Kroos performed a bit-part rather than prominent role but his break arrived with the appointment of Jupp Heynckes as manager in 2011. Heynckes, beginning a second permanent spell as the manager in Munich, had been Kroos’s coach at Leverkusen.
The rest tells the story of a highly successful recent history, that injury aside, yet there is intrigue over what Kroos will do next. His contract is due to expire next summer with Guardiola’s public indifference over that issue, and reports in Germany which claim the player’s agents regard extension terms as unacceptable, triggering rumour.
The sighting of David Moyes alongside a key figure at Kroos’s management agency company when Bayern took on Borussia Mönchengladbach in January merely added fuel to this particular fire. There is no question of Kroos being the kind of player, or rather one of them, that Moyes could utilise when rebuilding Manchester United.
The trouble for Moyes, and the other clubs sending admiring glances the way of Kroos, is that he would have to feel seriously under-appreciated before deciding upon a fresh challenge. When performing with the distinction he showed against Arsenal, Bayern will surely do everything within their power to avert that scenario.
- Bayern Munich
- Champions League
- European club football
Ewan Murray
theguardian.com