What Does the Future Hold for Xabi Alonso at Bayern Munich?

Bayern Munich are a team full of young, talented players yet at the heart of this side stands one individual coming to the end of his career. A veteran champion who contrasts the youthful exuberance that Pep Guardiola's team have come to represent. 

Although the Bavarian giants could finish the season with a whole host of trophies and silverware, there will be one looming question hanging of the manager's head this summer: What is Xabi Alonso's future at this club?

Alonso was a notable passenger in Bayern's recent battle and defeat at the hands of Borussia Moenchengladbach. Lucien Favre's side hit the German champions coherently and effectively on the break time and time again, with the Spaniard offering very little athleticism and therefore far from the necessary bite to thwart such attacks. 

The notable faults in Alonso's game were made all the more evident during Gladbach's first goal. When Patrick Herrmann broke down the right flank there was a notable gulf in Alonso's positioning and the ultimate goalscorer, Rafael. 

In fact, when you watch the replays of the goal you see the Spaniard gallop into the Bayern box only to miss an interception by mere inches. A little faster and he may well have been able to stop the Foals' first goal and perhaps even the unexpected defeat. 

In the end he was subbed off for the younger and more physical Sebastian Rode in the 61st minute but not before the damage was already done. 

It's performances like these—yes, there have been a number of them—which lead to many fans really questioning whether Alonso's very obvious talents mask a greater problem in the midfield. That Bayern have a player who can't tackle or keep up with opposing attacking players at the centre of their midfield. 

Such a conundrum of course has a very obvious solution; find another player to fill the whole. And, unfortunately for Alonso, there are a number of alternatives making their way back into the side before too long.

Thiago Alcantara is the obvious candidate to step into the breach, having returned from an intra-articular ligament crack in his knee and featuring on the bench against Gladbach for the first time this season. 

Without being too disrespectful to Alonso, Thiago shares the Spaniard's talent for passing across the pitch but outranks him when it comes to speed on the ball and the technical ability needed to skip past opponents. 

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Although the former Barcelona midfielder may not have much more to offer in defensive play, his sheer athleticism and attacking intent certainly seems to offer more across the board than what Alonso currently brings to the Bavarian side. 

Another, perhaps more logical, choice would be Javi Martinez, who is also on the cusp of returning from an injury that has kept him out of the club's campaign this season so far. 

Martinez has been deployed as a central defender at times under Guardiola—and may well return to the back line once he's back to full fitness—but his style of play just seems like a perfect fit for Bayern's light midfield. 

The Spaniard is a behemoth in the manner in which he rumbles across the pitch—most notably in the two games against Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2013—and can simply vanquish counter-attacks with his physicality and intelligence off the ball.

One caveat for Martinez coming in for Alonso is the fact that having him as this midfield terrier isn't exactly how we're used to seeing Guardiola set up his teams. Strikers tend to become midfielders and midfielders become defenders under the former Barcelona coach and as such it seems unlikely that Martinez and his defensive style will just be able to slot into this fluid midfield.

At 33 years of age Alonso would be the first to admit that this season may be his last full one at this level of the game, but with performances that have let him down of late and the players just waiting to step in, it seems as though the Spaniard's monopoly on the centre of the park is coming to an end. 

Alonso may yet remain a member of Bayern's squad next season but his days as the midfield general of this side are numbered. 

@sbienkowski