Mario Götze zum Sieg in Dortmund - Die FCB.tv News vom 24.11.2013

Bayern hunting down a mole for lineup leak

Bad news in the Bayern camp. The lineup and tactics for the game against Borussia Dortmund were leaked to tabloid Bild this weekend. Had the opposing side adapted its own tactics with that, FCB could have lost the game.

When learning about this, coach Pep Guardiola has warned that heads would roll and that the player who did this would never play for him again. Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge reacted more calmly, saying that whoever did this would receive a warning.

Whoever did this, this is a serious problem. Any opposing coach will now look for at the papers on matchday to see if any details about Bayern’s tactics will be out there, hoping to find a nugget of information that could make a difference between a loss, a draw and a win.

More importantly, unsolved locker room discontent can kill any team’s ability to win championships. Even the best in Europe. This is the kind of problem that Bayern cannot afford to have for too long. We have a hunch about who may be unhappy due to a conflict, but we’re not going to start pointing fingers.

Why I am saying all of this is obvious. Bayern was once called FC Hollywood due to problems with its stars, who made more noise in the media for their conduct than for the quality of their play. Management is aware of this. It will look for a way to prevent this from turning into an internal crisis.

Well, I hope they do.

Mr. Freeze’s derby: CSKA Moscow 1:0 Spartak Moscow (and other highlights from the weekend)

Did you see that? Did you see the bumblebees get crushed in the last minutes? Did you see Klopp going to the tennis shop and buying a racquet? Since you did, and since we’re celebrating, here’s an extra special recap.

Champions League

CSKA Moscow 1:0 Spartak Moscow

Oh sure, Germany (and presumably the rest of Europe) had their eyes fixed at the Signal-Iduna Park this weekend. Big deal. People over in Mother Russia were nuts about the super special subzero derby of the capital, featuring Bayern’s upcoming Champions League rivals, Spartak Moscow. And with CSKA trailing their cross-town rivals by three points prior to the game, it was sure to be a wonderful homage to football. How did it go?

Now, I wasn’t able to get much insight on this game. ESPN FC and Yahoo, as well as my app of choice while writing  recaps, had no information aside from the starting squads, the bookings and the goal. So I’ll be brief and rather present a set of inferences I made from the game.

First, it must have been freezing cold. This is goddamn Russia in November. Secondly (and predictably), both teams presented their gala squads, featuring two very different tactical schemes:

So, 4-2-3-1 against 4-1-4-1? Both teams wanted a very solid defensive base, but Spartak were more willing to take a risk. Their four-man midfield line featured strictly offensive players, and good ones at that, with the likes of McGeady and Jurado being quite recognized. (Note to the side, Jurado used to be a Schalke player), indicating a clear separation of defence and offence and very little overlapping of both parts of the team. CSKA were more conservative in their approach, employing a three-man front in the middle with very creative players, but giving that defensive pivot some backup to create a two-man defensive midfield. Look, the minutiae surrounding 4-2-3-1 has been discussed at length, and it is undeniable that it is the most used formation in the game these days. You want to be able to attack but not be exposed. Seems very logical.

In this case, and quite early on, the risk of playing 4-1-4-1 and making such a strict division of the roles in the game, took a toll for Spartak. Doumbia’s early goal proved to be the only one in the game, thus allowing CSKA to catch up in the table and be a mere three points behind leaders Zenit St. Tymosburg.

More results from Europe

The three horses in La Liga put on quite a nice show of goals for us this weekend. Barcelona started it off by dismissing weak Granada with a 4:0 deficit, lacking stars like Messi, Xavi, Dani Alves and Valdés. Real Madrid followed suit and massacred Almería with a 5:0 away rout, which was somewhat eclipsed by Ronaldo asking to be substituted early in the second half citing muscular problems. It proved to be nothing in the end though. Atlético de Madrid (much to Ms. Schray’s delight) topped their contenders off with a massive 7:0 destruction of Getafe. Did we tell you La Liga was very competitive?

Manchester United continued their poor EPL form conceding a 90th-minute equalizer while visiting Cardiff City. Chel$€a did their deed while visiting West Ham, 0:3. Arsenal kept at the top with a 2:0 win against Southampton. Etihad City  proved to offer the show of the weekend, obliterating Tottenham by a massive 6-0.

P$G visited Reims and dealt them a 3:0 spanking. God scored.

Bundesliga

Guess what.

It’s Braunschweig next weekend.

Who lost 0:1 hosting Freiburg this weekend.

Eintracht Braunschweig 0:1 SC Freiburg

There’s no denying that poor Braunschweig have become the rest of the Bundesliga’s stress toy. They sit last in the table with a mere eight points out of 39. Mind you, Freiburg had the same amount prior to this game. Which makes the match a classig Bundesliga Relegation Showdown.

Seeing as how December is almost here, Braunihebwrn decided to pay homage to the holidays by lining up a Christmas Tree in the field.

Seeing as how it was important to win this game to get their thing together, Freiburg lined up an actual formation.

Surprisingly, Braunschweig saw much more chances coming their way, with a whopping total of 19 shots (9 on target, 10 off target) and 52% ball possession. They also had six times as much corners as Freiburg and were caught offside a whopping four. Translation: they were actually doing it right. Alas, football requires you to actually put the ball past the goal line for that to be considered worthwhile, which is something these guys can’t seem to do, seeing as they have more games than goals so far this season.

Freiburg kept their cool, and took one of the few chances they had at the 52nd minute.

Check mate.

‘Til next week, mein freunds!