Bundesliga 2018/19, Hoffenheim 1-3 Bayern Munich: 5 Talking Points

#4 The misfiring of Nagelsmann's tactical changes

Nagelsmann chose to go in with a 3-5-2 formation which misfired

Julian Nagelsmann has been really impressive as Hoffenheim's manager in the past couple of seasons.

Sadly, Hoffenheim lost some key players like Serge Gnabry (who Bayern took back after the loan period expired) at the beginning of this season, and Hoffenheim and Nagelsmann had been under pressure to replicate their results from the last time.

Today, Nagelsmann chose to go in with a 3-5-2 formation, which misfired as Bayern chose to really expose their backline with as many as five or six Bayern players often laying siege to the Hoffenheim box.

Underfire players like Kevin Vogt and Kerim Demirbay made it worse, and the hosts had to start the second half on a two-goal deficit.

It was not until some key changes were made, such as both Vogt and Demirbay getting back in the dugout in place of Grillitsch and Geiger, that Nagelsmann's men started moving forward.

Their late move resulted in a goal two minutes later, and also a few chances to equalise later on.

Had the tactical changes were implemented from the beginning, Bayern could well have been caught short, judging from their performance in the latter phase.