Three takeaways: How Jackson fared on his Bayern debut | OneFootball

FC Bayern thrashes Hamburger SV on the 3rd Bundesliga matchday. FCBinside provides three insights into the match.

The Munich team gave HSV no chance from the start and celebrated a goal festival with a 5:0 against the newcomer. The game provided the following insights:

1. How Jackson's Bayern debut went

Nicolas Jackson was the big topic at the end of the transfer period at Bayern. Thanks to Uli Hoeneß, all contract details of the loan deal with FC Chelsea were publicly discussed before the striker first took the field for Bayern.

With the start of the second half against HSV, the time had come: Jackson replaced the strong Gnabry and made his FCB debut in the Allianz Arena.

It was interesting to see how Jackson shared the spaces with Harry Kane. In some scenes, the two formed a classic double top, then Kane sometimes dropped deep again. But in the 64th minute, Kane himself was taken off the field and Jackson moved up front for the Englishman.

This is one of the roles for which Jackson was brought in: As a backup for Bayern's top scorer. Jackson got a chance to score against Hamburg, but goalkeeper Heuer Fernandes parried the attempt from a tight angle. In two scenes, Jackson was quite well involved in combinations.

Several times, however, Bayern's attacks also passed him by. As before the 5:0 goal by Kane, when Jackson would have been ready to play, but his new colleagues preferred to do it without him.

Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl analyzed Jackson's debut as follows: "He had a very short time to settle in. It's nice that he had the opportunity to sniff the air in the Allianz Arena for half a game. He would certainly have liked to score a goal. But you can tell that he still needs time to adapt to the way we want to play football. But I believe he will learn that very quickly."

It will be interesting to see whether Jackson will also be used against his old colleagues from Chelsea on Wednesday in the Champions League.

His performance against HSV was more than just a first warm-up. For now, Jackson will probably only remain the joker role, the other stars in Bayern's current regular offensive have a lot ahead of him at the moment.

2. Pavlovic does Bayern's central midfield good

Coach Vincent Kompany has relied on the same starting eleven in all Bundesliga games so far. Against Hamburg, however, Aleksandar Pavlovic was allowed to start in the central midfield instead of Leon Goretzka.

And the Bayern homegrown did the Bayern game good. With his goal to make it 2:0, Pavlovic set a highlight. Unlike Goretzka, who often focuses too much on his defensive duties alongside Joshua Kimmich, Pavlovic also repeatedly drives Bayern's offensive game.

The switch from defense to offense seems smoother with him: Sometimes he carries the ball into the opponent's half, sometimes Pavlovic initiates the next Bayern attack with a clever pass.

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It could be that Kompany will rely on the more robust Goretzka against Chelsea and therefore gave him a break against Hamburg. If the coach wants to counter the club world champion more in terms of play, Pavlovic should also be allowed to start against the Londoners.

Pavlovic had been absent again and again due to injury or illness. Most recently due to a fracture of the eye socket, which is why the 21-year-old also appeared against HSV as a mask man.

After the game against Chelsea, the mask should finally come off again. Hopefully, Pavlovic will then be spared absences for a longer period. In the form he showed against Hamburg, Bayern need him as a regular.

3. The Gnabry personnel issue will be interesting

Serge Gnabry also had a strong day against HSV. His humorless finish for the 1:0 was the early can opener at Bayern's goal festival.

Brought in again as a Musiala replacement, the German national player showed a strong game in the first half until his substitution at halftime. Gnabry ran a lot, was always available and tried to create offensive actions for the hosts.

His season so far has been impressive: two goals and two assists in three Bundesliga games.

Eberl said about Gnabry after the game: "Serge is a big beneficiary of Vinnie becoming coach last summer."

The Bayern boss drew a comparison to Goretzka and the now departed Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman: "I don't mean this negatively, but they were burned out, it didn't feel like that anymore. He has basically made new signings out of these old players. Vinnie just has an incredible feel for the guys."

Eberl knows: The Gnabry personnel issue will become interesting for him and the entire club. Gnabry's contract expires in the summer, as does Goretzka's.

If Gnabry continues to play consistently well and perhaps even delivers at the World Cup in the summer, a free transfer would certainly hurt. On the other hand, Gnabry is still one of the top earners at Bayern and often could not justify his high salary.

Eberl's comparison with Sané and Coman is interesting. In the end, FC Bayern could not or did not want to keep both. The same could happen with Gnabry. Unless he is willing to take significant pay cuts.

The Gnabry issue will keep Eberl – like Sané last year – busy for a long time.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.