Choupo-Moting, Bayern’s unlikely hero
After Robert Lewandowski left, Bayern Munich bought Sadio Mane because they were keen on a playing style independent of a focal point. Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann decided on a 4-2-2-2 formation usually with Thomas Mueller and Mane in front followed by Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sane. It was similar to what Brazil had tried in the 2006 World Cup with Adriano, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka. It didn’t work for either.
Brazil went home after a Zinedine Zidane masterclass and Bayern stumbled to draws against Borussia Moenchengladbach, Union Berlin, VfB Stuttgart before losing to Augsburg (their opponents on Saturday). Among changes they rung in were giving Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting more game time. Who knew then that a 33-year-old striker Bayern had signed for free from Paris St Germain (PSG) as Lewandowski’s back-up and who had only two starts last season, would in less than six months be their most successful scorer in 2022-23.
In seven Bundesliga games since starting against SC Freiburg last October, Choupo-Moting had seven goals and two assists. Included in his tally of 17 goals this term is one against PSG on Wednesday which helped Bayern win 3-0 on aggregate and make their 13th Champions League quarter-final in 15 years. Before his 61st minute strike, Choupo-Moting had a headed goal ruled out because Mueller was in an off-side position.
The goal that stood was a simple tap-in after Leon Goretzka and Mueller had teamed to dispossess Marco Verratti. It was Choupo-Moting’s fourth in as many games in all competition. By then, Bayern had seen enough to give him a new year-long deal and, according to media reports, double his approximately $5 million salary.
“Choupo is an artist on the ball and has performed really well in recent years. He helped us in the first half of the season to fill the gap at centre-forward,” Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic told reporters earlier this month. Nagelsmann sees him as more than a No. 9. He can play as No. 10, the 35-year-old manager said last October. Choupo-Moting can play second striker and wide attacker in addition to being a centre-forward. So what’s not to like about the Cameroon international.
All this makes Choupo-Moting’s time at Stoke City when they were relegated in 2017-18 and at Mainz and Schalke before that seem unreal. At Stoke, he barely scored and though he did that more regularly in Germany the returns were modest: 44 goals in six seasons. Still, Thomas Tuchel, his manager at Mainz, knew what Choupo-Moting was capable of and took him to PSG. In a squad that had Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar, Choupo-Moting scored nine goals in 51 games including the 2020 Champions League final. At Bayern, when Lewandowski was injured, Choupo-Moting was an adequate replacement.
All solid but unspectacular stuff. And then it changed this season. Choupo-Moting went to the World Cup averaging a goal every 56 minutes. He started every game in Doha and scored in that pell-mell of a 3-3 draw against Serbia. By then, Mane was injured and the polyglot of a forward has more than filled-in. With his ability to get players such as Jamal Musiala into the game and a reputation for being self-less, Choupo-Moting is a walking stick Bayern are wobbly without.
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