Thomas Tuchel has hailed Arsenal’s blueprint as one Bayern Munich will look to follow in order to address their recent goalscoring issues. The Bundesliga giants have scored just nine goals in the eight matches since their 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund back in March, as Tuchel kicked off his tenure with a resounding victory. Bayern have struggled to fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting acting as a capable, but less than prolific replacement. Serge Gnaby and Jamal Musiala are Bayern’s top scorers in the league this season with 11 each, but Tuchel insists it is possible to thrive by sharing the goals around as Arsenal have done this season. The Gunners boast four players in double figures at present and Tuchel hinted Bayern will have to adopt that approach if they fail to sign an out and out No.9 in the summer window amid links to Tottenham talisman Harry Kane.
He said: ‘The big teams in the Champions League that are dominating at the moment have a reliable No.9 at absolute world class level. Everyone is looking for one, everyone wants one. Arsenal are an example of spreading the goals across several shoulders. If we’ve been together for a while and had a good preparation, we’d be able to create chances even if we don’t get a world-class No.9. Our goal is to have several players with around 16 goals.’
Choupo-Moting will miss this weekend’s game against Schalke through injury, meaning an opportunity for Thomas Muller who has been reduced to a bit-part role since Tuchel’s arrival. When asked about speculation that the veteran forward could leave at the end of the season, Tuchel said: ‘Thomas decides that himself. Thomas is Bayern and Bayern is Thomas. He’s playing for his 12th league title. That’s the complete focus. Everything else is unnecessary. Thomas is totally focused and only wants this title. Every game is a Thomas Müller game. Thomas had back pain, which slowed him down a bit recently. It was good to rest him a bit in training. He had three very good sessions and is fit and ready.’