Hannover Bayern preview: conquering Korkutian territory

Hannover Bayern preview: The Bavarian powerhouse takes on a reborn Lower Saxony side on Sunday, a game with little at stake besides the ever-important question of fine tuning the team for later challenges… and possibly taking a 19-point lead in the league.

Hannover 96, new life

During the winter break, the most important question you could have asked about H96 was whether they would remain in the bottom third of the Bundesliga table or if they would go down further, towards the relegation zone. Their 18 points in 17 games were unimpressive. The other question was whether new coach Tayfun Korkut could do anything about it.

Known for fielding a cohesive, energetic and quick 4-4-2, Hannover struggled defensively and looked average beyond a couple of stars. Although they have lost their last two games against a resurgent Schalke and against Mainz, they previously impressed against Wolfsburg and Gladbach, two contenders for Europe.

Strengths

Hannover plays with width and aggressivity. They are strong in the air and on set pieces. They love to attack from the right.

Their talisman is left (or right) winger Szabolcs Huszti, from Hungary. He’s a strong tackler and dribbler with a dangerous shot and quality free kicks. He’s aggressive. His passing skills link up very well with Artjoms Rudnevs, a striker on loan from Hamburg, whether he sends him throughballs from the top of the area or crosses after going wide.

Rudnevs brought new life to the striker position, playing alongside Mame Diouf, a prolific shooter. Diouf can rise high to send in beautiful headers or run and gun to take a shot on goal.

A new-found weapon is Leonardo Bittencourt, who can play on both wings. A good dribbler, he’s explosive, with a good shot and the ability to make precise passes when a teammate is in a better position.

Beware of backup central defender Salif Sané, who reads the play well to intercept passes. Edgar Prib, a midfielder, has crossing skills.

Weaknesses

Fast and aggressive, Hannover has the worst disciplinary record in the Bundesliga, with 50 yellow cards and four reds. It is one of the least accurate passing teams.

The most interesting talking point, though, is their defence. You can bait them into double and triple coverage to get other guys unmarked. You can also put the ball behind them fairly easily.

Christian Schulz, who is expected to play in central defence, is a liability. Right-back Hiroki Sakai doesn’t like giving a second effort to challenge you, when you go down the wing with the ball.

Keeper Ron-Robert Zieler is one of their best players. He likes to relaunch the attack with accurate long balls, but he’s not perfect. He makes mistakes when coming out to punch the ball on set pieces. Sometimes, he gives a juicy rebound.

Possible lineup

Bayern, charging for a 19-point lead

Tired legs? That shouldn’t be the case on Sunday. Having an extra day off after playing Arsenal in midweek should have allowed starters to regenerate.

The Rekordmeister will be going into this one with fresh selection “problems”. It appears that Bastian Schweinsteiger was irritated because he did not play a single minute against Arsenal, although fit enough, perhaps, for a 30-minute run. He needs to either start or to play as a substitute to whip himself back into shape.

Having played a poor game on Wednesday, David Alaba may need a bit of a rest. I’m not expecting it, though, since Pep Guardiola has a habit of playing his best players almost all the time. Did you notice that Tom Starke has seen little action in goal, not getting the nod against the weakest teams?

Should Javi Martinez play? Having spent most of the season in the stands with injuries, he was anything but in-form against Arsenal. Another guy who needs to play more, although I am far from sure that Pep likes him.

This game may be an occasion for the coach to help his players to settle down. I think that we had a point, in the latest Rekordmeister Podcast, when saying that there were too many position swaps in the last game. I’d like Arjen Robben to play on the right, with Götze on the left, for both guys to play up to their skill level instead of feeling lost.

Tactically, I think that Bayern facing Hannover has the potential to be one of those end-to-end games. Both teams have a good attack, as well as defensive weaknesses. FCB should look forward to sending passes through and behind the H96 defence, to set up scoring chances for Mandzukic, Götze and Robben.

Hannover’s aggressivity could also be a problem. We don’t play that well against teams that challenge us physically. On the other hand, their lack of passing accuracy should give the Reds the opportunity to launch quick counterattacks.

Bayern can win this game by a couple of goals, but I think we are likely to concede one as well.

Possible lineup

FC Bayern reist nach Hannover