Pep se napalio - a novinaru se vjerojatno povraćalo od vrtoglavice jer je pokušavao pratiti loptu dok je bila u Bayernovom posjedu.

Takve stvari ti sjebu osjećaj za ravnotežu. Ono očekuješ udarac na gol kao referentnu točku, a ovi te driblaju po pola sata bez ičega.

I onda ga još sadist Pep muči da ovaj mora podić glavu. Pa dobro da se nije izrigao na licu mjesta dok je ovaj objašnjavao.

Btw - kaže zaduženi na Old Trafordu da je morao popravljat brazde na sredini terena. Navodno, tamo su se ponajviše sadili krumpiri...

Lothar Matthäus "Pep is a perfectionist who leads by example; that in itself was a marker for the team, and the players understood as much"

Augsburg Bayern preview, the need to improve form

Augsburg Bayern preview: this Saturday’s Bavarian derby opposes FC Bayern to FC Augsburg, two teams that have underperformed lately. Who will triumph in adversity?

Augsburg, good but diminished

Injuries: Klavan, Moravek, Werner, Ji. Suspended: Hahn

The Baby Bavarians are not an easy side to play against. They may have the second lowest value in the Bundesliga, in front of Braunschweig, but they remain in 8th position in the league.

Their form has been terrible of late, being winless in four matches. They alternate between 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 formations. The first one is used more frequently, but it is weaker defensively.

Augsburg is good on the counterattack, benefiting from decent pace and good long passing. Its players love to shoot the ball, they cross regularly and they are pretty good in the air. They concede few shots per game. Dribbling with the ball is a weakness, aside from right winger André Hahn.

Hahn, who will soon join Mönchengladbach, is the best player on the team. His runs are well timed and he wins air challenges. He leads the team with 10 goals and shoots often but… he will miss the game due to his 10th yellow card.

Left winger Tobias Werner is a good strong passer and taker of set pieces, but he misses this match due to injury.

Halil Altintop, the brother of former FCB winger Hamit Altintop, is a hard worker and he loves to shoot. He may be the most important player on the pitch for Augsburg.

The heart of the team is in defensive midfield: Daniel Baier. Tackling and intercepting are his biggest strengths. He wins challenges and intercepts frequently in the middle.

When playing against Bayern in DFB Pokal earlier this season, Augsburg offered a lot of physicality, pushing the Bavarian cousins around and succeeding to some extent. It took nice goals to put them away.

Defensive and keeper mistakes have been the most interesting things to watch in their latest games. These guys have allowed space near the box, letting strikers score with ease. The keeper and his defence have been battered 3:0 by Mainz, notably with a comical own goal.

Possible lineup

Bayern, that confidence thing

Injuries: Thiago, Contento

Pep Guardiola may want you to believe that everything is fine but Bayern is on a poor run. The last few matches could easily have been losses even if the results were draws. Mainz, Hoffenheim and Manchester United have shown that parking the bus and defending desperately can work against FCB, while our boys haven’t been showing the same determination than earlier this year.

You may be right when saying that I was happily cheering for the Guardiola system before that, but it has been slowly breaking down.

While missing players, Augsburg will be tempted to put everyone behind the ball and defend, counting on an effective counterattack to surprise Bayern.

On their side, Die Bayern have to show that they can do more than pass the ball around. They have to take more shots and increase their risk-taking a little. It is understandable that they want to minimize the counterattacking danger, but if you do too little, your opponent can take advantage of your lack of confidence.

The Reds need to break their chains and let their passing flow a little more, while setting up shots.

It will be a bit more difficult for Pep to rotate the troops on Saturday, due to injuries. Thiago isn’t there to make a swap at playmaker/central midfield, while Diego Contento picked up a knee injury. This may force the coach to use Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller and David Alaba a little more than he wanted.

This game doesn’t mean much in terms of rankings, with the title in FCB’s back pocket. A good performance could however be a great confidence builder, while a poor one could make it more difficult to get into a rhythm a few days later against Manchester United.

A win by one goal would make me happy, but what I am looking for really is “less tiki taka, more direct attacking”.

Possible lineup

Nešto slično priča i ELO

http://clubelo.com/All/Ranking.html

Zašto Neuer i Lahm pričaju na engleskom? Nije mi to baš uvjerljivo, očito je riječ o fotošopu. 

jedan englez u top 10, i to tek 4.