Speaking in a presser ahead of Bayern Munich’s trip to Bochum on Saturday, head coach Julian Nagelsmann discussed the development of 19-year-old central defender Tanguy Nianzou.
“Tanguy is a talent but he’s at an age now where he’s not 18 anymore,” said Nagelsmann. “For defenders what’s important is consistency and he has moments where he plays outstanding passes into midfield and he opens up the game really well but there are also some situations where he makes some really bad mistakes and he doesn’t have this level of consistency yet and of course that’s because of a lack of rhythm so of course it’s in part my fault, it’s not only down to the player.
“What’s really good about Tanguy is his aggression level. He has this great willpower to defend and of course it doesn’t matter if he’s a centre-back, he’s a defender and there’s not that many defenders at his age that really want to defend. The modern generation of central defenders are not so much defenders, and that’s what’s great about him, that he matches his job description.”
The Frenchman has played just 171 minutes of Bundesliga football this season, Nagelsmann adding: “Tanguy needs to get more consistency to his game and then he will continue to develop and as a consequence will play far more.”
