It’s possible that no problem in Bayern Munich’s team has gotten more attention than the one in the defensive midfield spot.

Manager Thomas Tuchel has been very clear about what he wants, and the people behind the scenes have tried many times to meet his needs. For example, the sad last-minute failure of the transfer of João Palhinha in the summer was one of these attempts. In the middle of this storm, though, one rose has grown out of the mud: Aleksandar Pavlović.

Bayern’s entire midfield strategy has been changed by the young German player. His style of play is the most like what Tuchel wants in a defensive midfielder, but it also has clear Bayern characteristics. There is a chance that the possession-based, mentally gifted style of Bayern’s deepest midfielders and Tuchel’s no-nonsense destroyer archetype will not get along. However, Pavlović is the best kind of Molotov cocktail because we have it before it goes off. Let’s take a look at what makes him so unique.

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Wounds that won’t get better.

Being defensively stable is something that Bayern’s center has been missing for years since Thiago Álcantara left. Pavlović brings that back. Like Thiago, Pavlović isn’t particularly good at defense because he wins a lot of physical battles in the middle. Instead, he is great at organizing the defense and center, pretty much telling everyone else where to stand on the field. When he doesn’t have the ball, Pavlović always stays in a safe spot, blocking the defense line and keeping the center safe instead of breаking shape to press.

Pavlović isn’t just a passive player when he doesn’t have the ball, though. He’s been seen pushing up and dragging his defense line with him on purpose to close up space and let the forward players press hard. This mentаl quality of timing and positioning is so important for him and his team that I really think you could magically turn a player with semi-professional technical and physical skills into a top-level professional by giving them this mentаl quality.

Pavlović has done a great job of reorganizing Bayern’s system from the top down when they don’t have the ball.

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You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

In the beginning of the build-up, Pavlović is a lot of fun to watch. No matter what side of the field the ball is on, the center is always there. Whether he’s playing with a fullback, a center back, or the goalie, Pavlović is always there and can be used. Pavlović passed back and forth with Alphonso Davies and Leon Goretzka on the left wing during a game against FC Augsburg. Goretzka then switched to playing right back with Raphaël Guerreiro. When Guerreiro got the pass, he looked up and saw Mr. Aleksandar Pavlović already there, ready to take it. Those times really show how useful Pavlović is to the team in the first part of the game.

But it’s not just that he can always get the ball; it’s also what he can do with it. It’s easy for Pavlović to Һit straight balls. Joshua Kimmich may not be able to throw as far as he did when he was younger, but he makes the team feel stable with a mix of balls over the top and driven passes through the lines. Pavlović is great at moving the ball forward from deep positions, whether he’s in the half-space or the middle. He also isn’t afraid to look sideways if he can’t find a way to move the ball forward. Bayern’s whole method for building up players seems to have changed because of his many skills. Before Pavlović came along, Bayern only built up from the wide areas by using the full-backs. Now that Pavlović is on the team, they use the center a lot more through the defensive and middle thirds of the field, which changes the whole pattern of buildup and forces some players to move around. The fullbacks have been pushed back a bit, and Pavlović’s partner in midfield often hangs out in the half-space to try to make quick passes and keep that part of the field stable while Pavlović controls the middle.

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Bayern Munich have an attacking problem.

The team is sharp when they’re on the break, but they don’t know what to do when they’re left to build up against a structured block. The players stop moving and don’t seem to know what to do. They pass the ball loosely around the back or the wings when there isn’t a clear opening in sight because no one else is moving. However, Pavlović has become an important part of the team because he is always moving and wanting the ball. When an attacker or player looks like they don’t know what to do, Pavlović is always there for them, ready to take the ball and pass it back. It’s not just recycling, though. Pavlović can make chances for others by passing the ball and moving around, often by making space for them when he’s not receiving.

The way Pavlović understands time and space is way beyond his years. This is true both when Bayern is just starting to build up and when the ball is moving to a more advanced position. Pavlović’s moving from the middle of the field to wider areas is always well-timed, and the 19-year-old never looks out of place or out of position no matter what part of the field he visits. In the defensive third, his moves with the ball may have shown that he was a master at changing the lines of defense, but in the middle third, it is mostly his movements without the ball that change the way the other team defends. For example, in his game against VfL Wolfsburg in December, Pavlović expertly unlocked Wolfsburg’s midblock by only receiving the ball in the half-spaces where Wolfsburg’s structure was weakest. This caused chaos because at least one opponent was always dragged out of position to mark him, which let Leroy Sané take up more central positions early in the match. Some players’ movements can make or break games, and the deepest midfielder is the most important player for these types of moves. Pavlović’s skills in this area are a huge help to the whole team.

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I did it, my way.

We’ve reached breаking point. The team may be able to build-up from deep and recycle in advanced positions, but nothing is happening in the final third between the attackers. What now?

Let Pavlović cook.

Pavlović has a very sharp mind because he knows exactly when to act and how to control games with his positioning, which gives the whole team a strong base to work from. He is, however, both a safety net for the team and its sеcrеt tool because he is very good at knowing where everyone is. In the beginning of a game, Pavlović usually stays deep, possibly to figure out where space might open up since Thomas Tuchel didn’t tell him, but when the chance comes up, he’s not afraid to charge in between the lines with all of his might. This article has already said a lot of nice things about his game intelligence. Now we’ll talk about how this affects his play in the final third, where Pavlović is almost never in a bad spot when he makes his runs.

Pavlović’s runs between the lines are often met with a pass because he is already close to where the ball is because he is responsible for the second phase and because the other team has trained them to be guarded. Additionally, Pavlović knows that when he receives the ball, he will make defensive structures pаnic as the other team tries to re-adjust for an extra player behind their midfield line. He never hesitates on the ball when he receives it in these positions, making a quick decision to either release it or drive it further, forcing the defense to also make a quick decision.

The best example of this is Pavlović’s equalizer against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He quickly saw that Gladbach had a structural weakness between the lines in the half-space because they had a single pivot. He used Leroy Sané to tie down the central defender and quickly exchanged passes with Thomas Müller while moving through the lines to get behind the defense and then Һit a great shot across the goal. It was perfectly planned, executed, and timed (lucky?), because I don’t think any other player on the field would have responded as quickly to Pavlović’s move as Müller did.

It goes without saying that Pavlović has a great set piece record. Many of Bayern’s goals come from set pieces because they have trouble scoring from open play. Pavlović has been a big part of this. Since Joshua Kimmich and Sané aren’t playing, Pavlović is taking free kicks more or less as a third player on the team. He has already set up two goals from deаd balls. Another thing that Pavlović does is pose an indirect dаnger. He can use his height and — hold on — sense of positioning to make space for himself when the ball is delivered. This isn’t just a collection of “almost” moments, either. Pavlović scored his first goal for Bayern after pounced on a loose ball in the middle of the field during a corner. It makes sense that Pavlović can and does change how Bayern plays in all parts of the game, and that just being on the field changes how the whole team works.

Bayern Munich is lucky to have such a great player. Not since Sergio Busquets has a defensive midfielder this young been able to just make the starting lineup of a top European club based on how well they make decisions and how well they execute those decisions. But Pavlović is less shy than Busquets, who plays defense first. A better player to compare Pavlović to would be Manchester United great Michael Carrick. People in Germany and all over the sports world should keep a close eye on his progress.

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Keep watching over Durin’s sons.

Aleksandar Pavlović is Bayern Munich, and Bayern Munich is Aleksandar Pavlović. If you want further tactical analysis, I can only provide so much. Let’s discuss what is perhaps the most captivating part of football: the narrative. While Bayern are often vilified in the eyes of foreign spectators who primarily follow the Premier League and La Liga due to their dominance, Bayern’s status as a top tier self-run club with no foreign investment and no financial problems should actually place them as one of the leading protagonists of modern football’s strugglе with unethical investments.

When people think back on top teams of the day, often certain players stick out, and legends exist around players who came through the academy of the team they eventually broke out in, especially when it’s a team as stacked with talent in the first team as Bayern. In a time where Bayern has, according to its executives, lost its ‘Mia San Mia’ identity and no academy product has broken through to the first team for over a decade, Pavlović stands defiant of it all.

Pavlović embodies the Bayern style of play with his defensively resilient yet offensively gifted approach to the game, and never leaves an ounce of effort within himself by the time the final whistle blows. In simple words: Pavlović cares, which is — scarily — not a universal quality in the Bayern squad. More than the talent, more than the execution, more than the potential, the thing that should excite people most is the fact that Pavlović seems like he would be ready to bleed for the club if it meant a win. A special player? Of course. A Bayern player? That he is. An FC Bayern München player? Undoubtedly.