Müller hides from the FC Bayern fans

Impressions of the LIVE training session

Muller dolijeva ulje na vatru

http://www.dodaske.ba/sport/fudbal/1143-borussia-dortmund-nije-vise-u-rangu-bayerna

Fernando Torres "Simeone is like Guardiola or like other coaches, who you’d like to go and see how they coach and learn.”

Thierry Henry " And the greatest thing is Guardiola is always right. He has it all in his head. He is special. And the greatest thing is Guardiola is always right. He has it all in his head. He is special. Guardiola knows what will happen in the games and how to succeed in every way."

Pizarro "The focused way Guardiola works is unique."

Iniesta “For Guardiola to say that he couldn’t motivate the players anymore, is a personal matter for him."

Rafinha nutmegs Claudio Pizarro

FCB vor Viertelfinal-Auslosung - wer wird's?

 

Što se Bayerna tiče tu treba dodati još jednu značajnu stvar, a to je da je to klub koji je možda i najveća konstanta europskih kupova u poslijednjih četrdesetak godina. Naime oni su stalno tu negdje, dobro bili su u sijeni Hitzfweldove Borusije, ali i u to vrijeme su itekako pazili i dovodili igrače. Imali su i oni tu i tamo nešto slabije sezone pa i smjene generacija, ali stalno su konstanta. Pa AC Milan koji je od 1986 i Berlusconijeve ere također tu u vrhu a imali su općenito češće i veće padeve nego Bayern. Engleski klubovi su bili na ledu pet godina, jedino je Real možda ako  se gleda na dulje staze za nijansu na višoj razini nego Bayern, ali Bayern je tu odmah blizu. I smiješno mi je da "memljanje" na bayern dolazi iz redova navijača onih klubova koji su itekako znali zapasti u ponore i kaznama biti isključeni ili kupovati dream teamove i to je sve bilo OK, a sad odjednom Bayern ne valja? Ne kužim? Pa Bayern je pokušavao nešto "jeftinije" prolaziti, ali su ispadali prerano i onda odluče kupiti Riberiya i Bobena, Nuera a uz Švajnija, Lama, Kroosa, dogouraju do vrha, to nekima nije po ukusu!? A Abramovič ili Galaktikosi, na njih nitko nije "ljubomoran", kako to da tamo nikoga to nije smetalo, a sad Bayern koji u biti i ne mijenje igrače na autobuse to ne valja???

Tactical look: Javi and Basti are back! How can Pep use them?

Bayern enter the roughest stretch of the 2013-14 season after eliminating Arsenal in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Here it starts for real. And now that the entire team, save for Holger Badstuber, is available for Pep, we have to ask ourselves what the tactical possibilities are.

4-2-3-1 is not going anywhere (hopefully)

Michel wrote in one of his pieces a couple of weeks back, that Pep had brought back the 4-2-3-1 with a perfected feature. In my tactical preview for 2014, I discussed how I say 4-1-4-1 as being Pep’s emergency procedure in light of the injury crisis that hit the team early on. The fact is, it worked so well, it’s been harder to fall back to the more familiar system than all of us reckoned it would.

Guardiola, the ever-inventive mad scientist, decided that he wasn’t one to rest on Heynckes’ laurels (a decision that I applaud) and decided to bring his own salsa to the 4-2-3-1 party, as I point out in my previous analysis piece.

But we haven’t added anything new yet.

Here it goes: the 4-2-3-1 is not going anywhere, but it’s not going to be the same. Ever since Basti started making sporadic appearances after returning from injury, not once has he been played alongside Javi Martínez in the defensive midfield. It’s always been one of them and Kroos.

That has various effects on the tactical scheme of the team:

1. The formation is essentially dynamic

When Kroos is playing defensive midfield, Bayern are not always in 4-2-3-1 shape. The simple truth is that Kroos is an offensive midfielder that likes to make his passes about ten or so metres away from the edge of the box. When Bayern are in control of the ball, Kroos has the freedom to move up the field and take up a more familiar position for offensive play.

However, when the team is not in possession, Guardiola has forced him to sacrifice a little bit and fall back to assist Schweinsteiger in hampering any possible counterattacks.

2. It has to be Kroos

No, it can’t be Thiago. We’ve already found out he’s crap at defensive midfield, and isn’t really comfortable to move up and attack, so it’s a double loss for the team. Thiago is still very much used to the Barcelona 4-3-3, and Guardiola hasn’t really hastened his adaptation to the more vertical style of play Bayern are known for. I’m not saying this is wrong, but has been wise of Pep not to use him in the defensive midfield ever again.

Thiago is a guy who expects a defensive midfield to feed him the ball for him to find space specifically in the third quarter of the field. He is damn good at that. It’s pointless to not employ him correctly. Kroos, on the other hand, can be a go-getter. Although he isn’t Basti kind of good at recovering balls, he isn’t exactly easy to go around either. Add that to his technical skill, and by himself, Toni Kroos can make the switch from defence to attack in no time.

3. But it hampers his influence

This puts extra pressure on Toni. He has to switch mentalities back and forth, and has to do more running if he wants to be influential in attack as well, which he does because his offerings to the team are invaluable. Also, with Field Marshall Schweinsteiger by his side, he is ultimately second in command in the theater of offensive operations. Schweinsteiger is a player very much like Kroos actually (except Schweini is slightly more comfortable when opening up play on the wings), and his authority at Bayern is well-documented.

When I say, thus, that 4-2-3-1 a la Pep hampers Kroos’ influence, I don’t mean it in a bad way. It just means he has to be more conscious of defensive positioning, given that he has a specific defensive role that has been formulated to perfection last season.

Why are we not playing both Basti and Javi?

Trick question.

Let me set forth the following example:

Come Friday, UEFA will stage the Champions League draw. Imagine we get Real Madrid, or P$G. In fact, any team, including Manchester United, has its fair share of complexity.

Dante will be suspended for the first leg on yellow cards. Now, I’m the first one to put my hand in the fire for Daniel van Buyten, but the truth of the matter is that he is not able to keep up with the likes of Benzema, Van Persie, Ronaldo, Messi, Ibrahimović, Diego Costa, etc. The forwards in the last 8 are Solar System-class forwards, and we should not risk it.

So what are we left with? Kirchh- never mind.

We’re left with Javi. Yes, we all hate seeing him being played as centre-back, but he isn’t half bad at it.

See what Guardiola is doing? He is rotating the defensive midfield around a bit so that he’ll have options in the centre back department should any eventualities arise. Expect Phillip Lahm to reprise his midfield role more during the season. Expect Kroos to continue being played there. Come summer, we will surely sign a centre back or another defensive midfielder (or at least I hope so), and the rotations will make more sense on paper.

The “but”

When I say on paper, I simply mean from day one, seeing Lahm at defensive midfield was awkward and out of place. But it worked. Bayern are undefeated in the Bundesliga and well into the Champions League knockouts.

Let’s not underestimate Guardiola. He is a box of surprises.

Mislim da Sammer prvenstveno pretjeruje jer drugi klubovi uglavnom pričaju dobre stvari za Bayern, a ovo za galaktikose nije istina. Koliko puta sam čuo da će Real bankrotirati unazad zadnjih 10ak godina...

Za dobrim konjima se uvijek prašina dizala.

Nije mi ovo baš najjasnije? Želiš reći da si primijetio reakcije simpatizera ostalih klubova izjave da će Real bankrotirati?

Na koga misliš da je "dobar konj" u ovom tvom postu?