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Source: The fall of Schweinsteiger
In what was perhaps the UEFA Champions League game of the season so far, Wolfsburg knocked mighty Manchester United out into the bowels of the Europe League with a 3-2 victory.
We, the general public, should be surprised. MU are worth 391 million Euros, more than double that of VFL Wolfsburg. They are supposed to have the bigger stars (Rooney, Mata, Schweini, Memphis, Mata, De Gea), the “more European experience” (as my match commentators, Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves, both former MU players, pointed out every 5 minutes). They have Louis van Gaal, a tactical genius, who got to spend over a 100 million pounds this offseason. They were in a very “easy” group with CSKA Moscow, PSV Eindhoven and the VW boys. What could go wrong?
There is just one problem, the other team in green.
If you have been paying attention, you should NOT be surprised at the…
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We need an Ibravention
Relax, people of the Internet. I, too love me some Zlatan. Look, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a monster of a soccer player in every sense of the word. I am obviously, as you should be, scared of Zlatan.
Allow me to explain.
First, please watch some of this 8 minute video on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln35qLphK4I
Scared, yet?
Ok, let’s continue. For those, who don’t know, the 34 year old Swede is 6 ft 5 and weighs 215 lbs and is a black belt in taekwando. How about now?
He is also probably and rightfully the 3rd best, if not the 3rd most popular soccer player of the last 10 years behind Messi and Ronaldo. His aggregated transfer value is in excess of 200 million dollars. From a footballing perspective, the combination of his spectacular athleticism, strength – combined with lightning quick feet and a dazzling array of moves, have turned him into a unique center forward, the likes of which world football has not seen since the glory days of Marco Van Basten.
Having started his career in Sweden, Ibra has literally won the league for every team he has played for and as of October 4, has become PSG’s all time leading scorer with 110 goals. This is his 4th season at the club, by the way.
I also appreciate his master level trolling of world football, from his hilarious „autobiography” (which you should check out at http://www.amazon.com/Am-Zlatan-Story-Off-Field/dp/081298692X ) and how he has embraced the role of top asshole. (I was going to write douche, but that’s not a word befitting Zlatan.)
Zlatan, as of this October, is now 34 years old. In this age of ubercompetitive, year round world football, it’s basically unthinkable that a 34 year old center forward (much less someone with his size) would be able to play close to 75 games at a top level. Based on this year’s matches and the undefeated record of Father Time, I’m going to argue, that Ibra, despite playing in the friendly confines of Ligue 1 has lost several steps, and thus should no longer be considered an elite forward. I’ll be using a comparison between what the statistics show against what I’ve seen from him this year (the eye test) in France and in the Champions League.
Stats vs. The Eye Test
Stats
Ligue 1:
According to the excellent whoscored.com, Zlatan rates as the best player in France, with 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 games, and PSG lead the league by 7 points.
So, on the surface, half of my argument collapses. My counterpoint, to that is that Ligue 1 has never really been among the elite leagues of soccer, but more of a feeder system/ stepping stone from the likes of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba, to more recently Anthony Martial towards the greener pastures of the EPL, La Liga, etc. Currently, most fans would rate Ligue 1 barely in the top 5, but probably no higher than the 5th best league in the world. The top 4 would probably be La Liga, EPL, Bundesliga, Serie A, with the leagues of Argentina, Portugal, Brazil and France fighting for 5th. For comparison, last year, IFFHS rated it 7th. http://iffhs.de/the-worlds-strongest-national-league-2014/\
I mentioned that PSG lead the league by 7 points. What about the competition? The Parisians are ahead of 2nd place Angers (“a city 190miles west of Paris in the Anjou province” – according to Wikipedia), a side that has played in the 3rd division for 8 years from 1996 to 2007 and in Ligue 2 until gaining promotion last year!. At the risk of condescension, there is not a single notable name on their roster, which is made up of late twenties Ligue 2 players and other fringe names. I dare you to click on it, though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angers_SCO
In third place, is SM Caen, from Normandy who was promoted in 2014, after bouncing back and forth between the top and second flights.
Lyon (in 4th place), Monaco (8th) and Marseille (14th) three of the traditional powerhouses are firmly in PSG’s rearview mirror, due in large part of their export heavy approach. Whether, that is their fault, or the fault of the brutal hierarchy of world football is a question that is outside the scope of our discussion today.
Regardless, it’s safe to say, that PSG and Ibra are playing great in a heavily diluted, inferior league, where their fixtures are often hardly challenging. Suffice it to say, it is not a gigantic accomplishment to stand out in a watered down league, whose best talents are continually poached by more affluent clubs.
Let us turn our attention to Europe and the UEFA Champions League, the pinnacle of world football competition, and see how our hero has fared there so far. Using whoscored.com, we can conclude that Zlatan has played in 255 minutes in 3 games, with 0 goals and 1 assist. http://www.whoscored.com/Players/3281/Show/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic
The competition has been a mixed bag. Ibra’s hometown team FK Malmö of Sweden, albeit undoubtedly a sentimental favorite for the Swede, can hardly be called tough competition. He had 47 touches, as he picked up his lone assist for Edinson Cavani’s goal against them in a 2-0 win.
In their second UCL game against Shakhtar, he had 70 touches in a 3-0 victory, with a rather mediocre looking heat map.
PSG and Ibrahimovic’s 3rd and toughest test came on October 20th, versus perennial favorites, Real Madrid. According to the numbers, he had 70 touches and the following heat map in an exciting goalless draw. He had 2 shots, none on goal and 1 foul created in 90 minutes of action.
EYE TEST
Those are far from incredible numbers, and it’s always a bad sign, if your offensive juggernaut of a team fails to score, with your ace center forward failing to get a single shot on goal. But what about the eye test, you ask? Having watched this game closely I noticed the following things about Ibra’s performance:
So in conclusion, not good enough at the highest level is the final verdict on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s performance this year. While he has some inflated numbers, thanks to playing in an inferior league, the Swedish striker is no longer the player he was 3 or 4 years ago. His physical skills have slipped, his inability to make quick decisions and his general inattentiveness have sadly turned him into an over the hill, frustrating to watch player.
They will probably run away with the league in France, but if PSG are serious about contending in Europe this season manager Laurent Blanc, who has stated after the match that he has “no choice” but to hope that the Ibra/Cavani/Di Maria trio improve) has to give some serious thought to BENCHING Zlatan. Bon chance, mon ami! – Or as they say in South Central, L.A. – Don’t get DEEEBO’D!!!
Wenger vanquishes Pep, as Guardiola’s Barcelona demons resurface
When Arsenal hosted Bayern in Tuesday’s Champions League fixture, stakes were already very high. Arsenal who stood at 0 points after 2 matches, the result of two catastrophic games vs lowly Zagreb and Olympiacos, the match was pretty much the last flicker of hope, if they were to go past the group stages. Their recent impressive display in the EPL (particularly vs MU) notwithstanding, the conventional wisdom suggested that Pep Guardiola’s Bayern would be an altogether different test.
Bayern, who have been “destroying fools” to borrow a phrase from my favorite basketball writer, Zach Lowe, were coming into the clash with an undefeated record and in Robert Lewandowski, the most feared player in the game. Their accomplishments and accolades so far this season would take up most of the space for this article, but suffice it to say, they have been the consensus best team in Europe this season so far.
Tactically it would prove to be an interesting encounter between two of the great minds of recent European football. Could the slightly past his prime Arsene Wenger (about whose transfer policy Icelandic sagas could be written) figure something out versus the seemingly indomitable Pep Guardiola? Surely, the mercurial Frenchman, cannot stymie the revitalized tiki-taka of Pep’s FCB with the in form death squad known as Douglas Costa, Thomas Müller and Lewandowski?
Arsenal started the game with Walcott playing again and favored to Giroud as the center forward, and with Sanchez and Özil deployed as the attacking players, it suggested that the Gunners would perhaps utilize quickness on the counterattacks. Behind them sat the midfield trio of the industrious Coquelin, with Wales stalward Ramsey and Santi Cazorla in the deep lying playmaker role. Would they be able to slow down the assault of the Bayern midfield?
In defense Arsenal attempted to ask Mertesacker and Koscielny to solve the riddle that is Lewa, while Monreal and the speedster Bellerin were supposed to bottle up Diego Costa and the other winger (as it turned out, that would be Thomas Müller, more on that later).
Bayern had only one surprise in their lineup, as usual left back David Alaba, in an effort to counter the speed of Theo Walcott, was deployed alongside Boateng in the center of defense, while Lahm and Juan Bernat flanked them on the right and left, respectively. In the midfield, Xabi Alonso sat in his familiar role behind Thiago and box to box guru Vidal, as the three-headed monster of Costa/Müller/Lewa was hoping to rear its ugly head up top.
On a sidenote, before we get to the action, let us mention that there was a protest against the exorbitant ticket prices on behalf of some supporters, as they came into the stadium 5 minutes after kickoff.
The game was hardly underway at Emirates, when Lewandowski almost ran past 3 defenders before a last ditch tackle and you could foresee a rough night for the Gunners. Bayern, as they so often do, dominated possession, with Xabi Alonso and Thiago pulling the strings, while it looked as if Wenger’s side were content to sit in and play a counterattacking style. On 8 minutes, Arsenal brought the ball out of defense wonderfully, putting together a slew of crisp passes all the way to the Bayern box, where Neuer had to deny Özil. Bayern responded with a delightful one two combination by Müller and Thiago, whose shot was well-saved by Cech. As the game grew, Bayern continued to dominate the possession, at the 32 minute mark, they had 241 passes with 82% accuracy to Arsenal’s 68 and 61%. Tactically, they wanted to exploit the two wings, where on the right Monreal seemed to be the weak link of the Arsenal defense, and on the right, no RB in the world would be a match for Douglas Costa. Or so, Pep thought. Initially he proved right – look no further than the undressing of Bellerin on this move by Costa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ13zdLhM2U
Towards the end of the 1st half, Arsenal weathered the storm, and were pulling Bayern closer and closer to their goal – at one point, CB David Alaba was 30 yards from Cech’s goal and regularly trying to distribute. Thus, Arsenal’s counterattacking style could flourish: it was Alexis first, who missed a chance from a corner, and then this happened – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHV9GTZOk0w
Superhuman stuff from Neuer to be sure, but a worrying sign for Bayern fans. The 1st half came to a close with a Douglas Costa effort that sailed high, after a bad Sanchez turnover. It was a strange one, since Bayern were dominating the game with possession and some half chances here and there, yet Arsenal would have been right to rue their two glorious opportunities.
In the second half, after no changes at half time, (I was surprised to see Özil not get substituted) Bayern and particularly the lightning fast Costa came out firing, with two half chances. On 55 minutes, the Gunners were dealt a big blow, when on a high press, Ramsey appeared to have pulled his hamstring and had to be replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. This meant a restructuring for Wenger, because Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is more of a winger/forward, lacks the work rate of Ramsey in the middle of the pitch. In theory he would definitely be another lethal option on the counter attack.
Bayern were also experimenting with an in game strategic change. For some reason (and at the time of this writing I have not seen a reason for this from Guardiola, though I suspect it could be a more careful away game approach), Thomas Müller has been deployed as a right winger, where he was definitely less effective than in his usual central attacking position. On 58 minutes, he and Costa tried to switch sides for about 9 minutes, but it proved to be rather ineffective.
Arsenal survived Bayern’s onslaught and while at the 60 minute mark, the previously mentioned passing stats were crediting FCB with 441 passes, the score was still 0-0. At the 70 minute mark, Pep opted to make 2 more changes, Rafinha (a RB/RW hybrid) came on to replace Vidal (more on this later), while young Joshua Kimmich, who dazzled in Bayern’s previous UCL match replaced the so far man of the match Xabi Alonso, in a straight young for old switch. Alonso and Vidal were both looking tired out there, and so was Theo Walcott, so Wenger opted to bring in Giroud as the new center forward. And what a sub it would turn out to be. First, though Lewandowski was absolutely stoned by Petr Cech, after a great through ball from Douglas Costa on 75 minutes. The old adage of missed chances coming back to bite you in the butt was proved true just a minute later, as the otherwise imperial Manuel Neuer committed an error of TerStegenian proportions. A set piece into the box from Casorla saw the Bayern keeper get a late start and resulted in a horribly timed challenge, in which he misjudge the ball, which rolled off the head of Giroud and into the goal for 1-0, sending the crown into delirium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-TVosAnykA
The upset was definitely brewing now, and as Bayern hit 600 passes on the night to Arsenal’s 193, they were left chasing the game. In the 93rd minute, Lewandowski beat Koscielny with a brilliant turn, who somehow miraculously recovered to deny the Pole for the surefire equalizer. It was that kind of a night for Pep’s boys – a sloppy 94th minute pass by Alaba saw the flat footed Bernat get caught by the pace of Bellerin, who galloped past Thiago and put it on a silver platter to Özil, who just knocked it across the line. Neuer, to his credit got one of his gigantic paws to it and almost replicated his miracle save from the first half. It was not to be Bayern’s night, however as the game ended with Arsenal victorious by 2 goals to nil.
There are several takeaways from this exciting affair in London on match day 3.
First, Arsenal, who not long ago were the butt of jokes after Wenger’s transfer window stinginess and Ospina’s howlers have in a couple of weeks returned to European relevancy and are very much alive in the group with 3 crucial points. To the victor go the spoils as they say and thus a lot of credit should be given to the French manager for getting his tactics right. Cech’s inclusion (and his dubious benching vs Olympiacos) in the starting lineup, as it was mentioned on the Sky Sports broadcast was rewarded with a number of key saves. Not many people would have believed that the trio of Mertesacker, Coquelin and Koscielny (who recovered brilliantly on more than one occasion and harassed Lewandowski all night) would be capable of keeping a clean sheet against the monstrous attack of Bayern. Monreal also did an admirable job against Thomas Müller, although some of that is on Guardiola not putting his player (Müller) and his team (Lahm/Rafinha as right wingers, anyone?) in a position to succeed. The ever underrated and overlooked Santi Cazorla also put in his usual excellent shift with 73 passes and 90% accuracy. While, one huge scalp does not undo years of questionable moves, the overcoming of this particular Bayern juggernaut and their recent form in England has definitely put Arsenal back on the right track.
Second, Bayern’s stunning undefeated streak to the season has been snapped. The unsustainability of their winning streak and Lewandowski’s absurd goal per game average was always a reality, but fans around the world preferred the dream that was. Unfortunately, Guardiola’s dreams might turn into nightmares as his side were at times eerily reminiscent of the frustrating Barcelona games, where despite outplaying their opponents and dominating possession they lost in the most important statistical category: goals scored. While it is perhaps premature to question an undefeated team’s manager after the 1st loss of the season, Pep ever gracious in defeat, should be asked some questions about playing Müller wide right. Granting that this might be the hindsight bias talking, there was the possibility of going with Lahm or Rafinha, as in my opinion Bayern operate most successfully with Müller and Lewa on the end of numerous crosses from the wings. It is a bit harsh, but if you listen carefully enough you just might hear those old Guardiola critics who complain about his tiki-taka start whispering. After the game, Pep was quoted as being “not bothered by the defeat” and “proud of his team”. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/613463/Pep-Guardiola-Bayern-Munich-Arsenal-Champions-League-Results-Arsene-Wenger
Well, then how proud should Arsene Wenger be?
I.
As a longtime Borussia Dortmund fan, (since the days of Karl Heinz Riedle, Andy Möller and Stefan Reuter) I was eagerly anticipating Sunday’s match against Bayern Munich. After a dismal season last year, which resulted in beloved coach Jürgen Klopp’s departure, the new look BVB started the season on fire under former Mainz guru, Thomas Tuchel. If you were looking for the signs, well you would not have had to look any further than these tidbits. They won their first 5 matches and, although key players, such as the preternatural Marco Reus have yet to find their forms, Borussia appeared to be clicking. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the former AC Milan academy product, who struggled to get playing time and goals for years, until a couple of mildly successful seasons at French side Saint Etienne, started his third season with BVB scoring a goal in every game with 7 goals in 7 games and establishing a Bundesliga record in the process. The Mats Hummels (another one, who has been at the top of the wishlists of all EPL and La Liga clubs) anchored defense looked solid, and the midfield featured the duo of the rejuvenated Shinji Kagawa and transfer gossip darling Ilkay Gundogan pulling the strings masterfully. In addition, the mercurial „Armenian Kaka” Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was rumored to leave the team last year, has regained his devastating form. So what could go wrong?
II.
Well, Sunday’s „Der Klassiker” (which is a terribly forced name, trying to play upon the Spanish league’s “El Clasico” between Real Madrid and Barcelona) was nothing sort of a bloodbath, with Bayern emerging victorious 5 goals to 1. Before moving on to an analysis of Bayern’s dominance, let’s take a closer look at what happened in the match on Sunday.
The game began with a cynical foul by the otherwise brilliant David Alaba, as he took down the streaking Aubameyang for a very very fortunate yellow card just 4 minutes in. In an otherwise relatively sloppy 25 minute, the most notable chance fell to the lightning fast Douglas Costa, who after leaving Sokratis for dead, fired a shot from a bad angle that Bürki saved comfortably. Two minutes later, center back Jerome Boateng played an exquisite long ball some 65 yards that dropped behind CB Mats Hummels and right in front of the sprinting Thomas Müller (it helped, that left back, Lukasz Piszczek was for some unknown reason keeping him onside by 5 yards). The Borussia goalkeeper Bürki had to gamble and come out of his box in a desperate attempt to prevent Müller, who poked it past him with his toe and then fired into the empty net for 1-0.
10 minutes later, it was a textbook counter by FCB started from the edge of his own penalty area by the always excellent Philipp Lahm: He found Müller who galloped down the right side, before returning it to Lahm in the middle, who noticed Thiago making a delayed run on the left into the box, where he was brought down by Mkhitaryan as he cut the ball back. Müller’s PK made it 2-0.
Dortmund pulled one back just 2 minutes later, as Gündogan’s pass opened up the defense behind a poorly positioned Xabi Alonso. After a wide ball by Mkhitaryan, Gonzalo Castro played a delightful ball to the far post, where Aubameyang had beaten Javi Martinez (who fell asleep for a split second) for an easy tap in. 2-1. Dortmund, despite giving the ball away far too cheaply numerous times were in a decent position, to make something of the game in the 2nd half, one could hope.
Well, hope is, as they say, a fickle thing. The second half began with a goal, near identical to the 1st goal of the game. This time it was Alaba who played the long ball over the top, (current) best striker in the world (among mortals, i.e. players not named Cristiano or Leo), Robert Lewandowski beat Bender and Hummels in a foot race – while Bürki, perhaps understably afraid to come out of his goal, allowed Lewa to take a wonderful first touch 11 yards out- before pushing the ball under the onrushing keeper and into the net for 3-1.
Just a few minutes later, the Bayern center forward got another ball behind the defense, pulling Bürki out of his goal again, before playing it back to Müller, who put the ball on a silver platter to Götze, who then produced the miss of the season from 5 yards out. On 58 minutes, Bayern continued to pour it on with another sublime 4 touch counter attack. Lahm (1) started it on the right hand side, finding Müller in a lot of space, who quickly sent (2) Götze running down the flank. Recognizing, that Lewa has beaten his defender on the far side, the World Cup Final hero (Götze) played a beautiful one touch ball some 35 yards across the field, past the scrambling Bender (3) and into the path of the Polish striker, who calmly finished it off for the 4th touch of the attack, making it 4-1. A masterclass of a goal, that effectively meant game over.
After a chance for Douglas Costa that was denied by the Dortmund goalie, Mkhitaryan had a golden chance to make it 4-2, but scuffed his volley. At the 66 minute mark, after Götze cut in from the left side unguarded, Mkhitaryan sheepishly avoided challenging Thiago, who won a 50-50 ball against the struggly Piszczek, and Götze was there to make it 5-1 through a sea of BVB legs. Mkhitaryan tried to make up for it with an excellent move after a quick counter by Reus, but Neuer made a brilliant save to keep the score at 5-1. The score would not change and Bayern have outclassed BVB in the battle of the German giants.
The fallout from “der Klassiker” has been significant, with Bayern taking a 7 point lead after just 8 games on BVB, leading many fans and team CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke to conceding the Bundesliga title to FCB in OCTOBER (!!!). In other news, Roman Bürki, the former Freiburg goalkeeper signed over the summer, has earned a new nickname of Jumping Jack („der Hampelmann” ) after Sunday’s performance. OUCH!
III.
A Seven Nation Army – Bayern’s dominance
Goals per game3.5
Avg. Possession70.8%
Pass Accuracy88.8%
Shots per game19.1
Tackles per game14.9
Dribbles per game15.4
Those are just a few of the eye popping numbers for Bayern this year. (courtesy of http://www.whoscored.com).
• 8 wins out of 8 Bundesliga matches, 28 goals scored, 4 conceded for a goal difference of +24.
• A stunning 23 goals came from open play, with 4 penalties and the lone goal from a set piece. Boring, Chelsea, this is not.
• 2 wins out of 2 matches in the UEFA Champions League by a combined 8-0 margin.
• 650 short passes with a 90% effectiveness
• 19 shots per game!
Those numbers, while painting a pretty picture do not tell the whole story, so let’s break them down, in seven steps, discussing 7 key contributors for FCB this year.
General Pep Guardiola (Catalonia) is the controversial former Barcelona manager, who depending on who you ask, is either, the greatest manager in the game, or a luckbox, who happened to coach generational talents, like Messi and Iniesta, or Lahm and Lewandowski. The famous mastermind of the tiki-taka, has taken his fair share of (unfair) criticism after switching to Bayern from Barca in 2013. On a sidenote, the word tiki-taka has rather unfairly become an insult in world soccer, seemingly referring to a game, in which a dominant team simply gets unlucky and fails to score. (see most Barcelona games prior to Neymar and Suarez arriving)
Despite comfortably winning the Bundesliga in both of this first two seasons, and putting 6 and 7 goals past teams like Roma, FC Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, many fans and critics blamed him for losing twice to Real Madrid in the UCL semifinals, 1-0 and 4-0 respectively, as well as crashing out of the German Cup, before succumbing to a historically great Barcelona side in the UCL final of 2014/15. He has had his fair share of run-ins with players (jettisoning Mario Mandzukic, for not fitting his style, and famously flipping out at new signing Arturo Vidal’s positioning in a preseason game) and coaches – refusing to shake the hands of MLS All-Star team coach Caleb Porter, after some rough tackling in the 2014 MLS All-Star game.
Pep has always been famous for discovering and nurturing young players at FC Barcelona, where he started as the B team’s coach and brought (to everyone’s surprise) the likes of Sergio Busquets to the first team. In true form, Guardiola continued this tradition at Bayern, giving youngsters like 17 year old Gianluca Gaudino a start in the Cup final, or playing inexperienced players like Sebastian Rode over World Cup winner and former Real Madrid and Liverpool star Xabi Alonso last year.
IV.
Going into the 2015/2016 season, there were several major questions raised for Pep. Will he stay at Bayern, or would he accept a job at Manchester City? Would he be able to shed the „Messi made me great” moniker? Sure, the Bundesliga is a piece of cake, but could he win the UCL? What’s going to happen with the often injured, maybe past their primes duo of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery?
Well, some of the answers to those questions have been answered in a rather demonstrative way by Bayern’s exquisite start as evidenced by the aforementioned numbers. The coach has so far avoided any controversy, but has managed to completely reinvent Bayern’s style.
In the past 2 seasons, Bayern has tried to play a hybrid version of Barcelona’s possession soccer, with two excellent wingers in Robben and Ribery alongside a quality center forward in Lewandowski and the always pesky Thomas Müller. If one believes the argument of his critics, it is something like this: Pep tried and learned the hard way, that Phillip Lahm („the most intelligent player I have ever met- according to Guardiola) is not Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso is not Sergio Busquets, and noone is Leo Messi. Injuries to super LB David Alaba, midfield dynamo Thiago, wingers Robben and Ribery (especially down the stretch last year) and a shaky back four (hello, Dante) and his stubborn refusal to compromise in key situations (like the semifinal against Real Madrid) could also be blamed for ultimately coming up short. One can imagine the angst and disappointment he felt for not being able to solve this riddle. So Bayern decided to bring in some new players at the request of Guardiola: most notably Shakhtar and Brazil winger Douglas Costa for 30 million Euros and box to box midfielder extraordinaire Arturo Vidal for 37 million Euros. In a seemingly insignificant move, the team also took 19 year old French winger Kingsley Coman from Juventus on loan on August 30th of 2015. To everyone’s surprise 20 year old Joshua Kimmich, who was playing for RB Leipzig in the 3rd division 18 months ago (!!!) was brought in in January for 7 million. Needless to say, that by September he was starting in place of Xabi Alonso in the Champions League win against Dinamo Zagreb and put on a magnificent display. Just for fun, he currently has a 94.4% passing accuracy. Typical Guardiola.
V.
Previously, I had stated that Guardiola has reinvented Bayern’s style, now let’s look at Pep’s Seven Nation Army since„everyone knows about it, from the Queen of England to the hounds of hell”.
1. Douglas Costa – Brazil – LW, 25 years old – has 5 assists in the Bundesliga, although some sites have credited him with 11 assists in 11 games this year. Having toiled in relative obscurity in Ukraine for 5 years, the 25 year old has taken the Bundesliga and Europe by storm. Due to his sublime technique and a combination of speed and power, Costa has been unplayable on the left wing, delivering crosses at an alarming rate, while also completing over 3 dribbles per game. His array of stepovers and inside out cuts, remind me of early Cristiano Ronaldo, when Sir Alex still believed him to be a winger with the caveat, that Costa is looking to cross the ball to two of his favorite targets, Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski.
2. Thiago Alcantara – Spain 24 years old– CM. The former Barcelona academy product, already has 3 assists in 2 UCL games this year, and he averages 98.5 passes per game. Son of WC 1994 winner Mazinho, Thiago is finally coming into his own at age 24 this season, after some frustrating years in Barcelona, where he couldn’t get playing time behind the trio of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta (well, to be fair, noone should) followed by a long injury spell in his first season. He is the lynchpin that holds together Bayern, putting in an impressive amount of defensive work, while playing a number of key passes. (the 5th goal against BVB is an excellent example). He is also a better option than the cumbersome Xabi Alonso, as he is able to play short and long, and has the stamina to make devastating forward runs on and off the ball. One can only hope, that he stays healthy. Perhaps, now that his brother Rafinha (of FC Barcelona) is out for the year, the injury gods have decided that this really might be his lucky year.
3. Thomas Müller 26 years old– Germany – F –has 10 goals this year, and is up to his usual „tricks” of running incredibly hard into space, looking very awkward and playing genius football. He can score and generate all kinds of goals as evidenced by his play on the weekend against Dortmund, where he started 2 attacks, leading to goals, as well as finishing a breakaway and a PK for good measure. For more, on the criminally underrated Müller, this article is recommended.
http://worldsoccertalk.com/…/thomas-muller-is-the-underrat…/
4. Robert Lewandowski 27, years old– Poland – CF – 12 goals 5.1 shots per game. At this point, everyone is familiar with Lewa, who most notably scored 5 goals in 10 minutes against Wolfsburg, who promptly smashed their controllers against the wall and stormed out of the room in disgust. Oh, wait that was a real game?!. The Polish striker, who was almost signed by the mighty Blackburn Rovers were it not for the Icelandic volcano ash, has always been a deadly finisher just ask Pepe and Real Madrid. The big difference this year is that in Guardiola’s new system he is the centerpiece of the attack, as he can get on the end of every cross coming from Costa and Coman, or Müller. And we all know, what happens when he gets on the end of those.
5. David Alaba 23 years old– Austria – LB – doesn’t have any stats that will blow you away, but his size, speed and technical ability make him the ideal left back of the day. He can do a little bit of everything, attack, defend, shoot and does it at a blistering space. If you don’t think the LB position is important, then just take a look at the mess that Louis Van Gaal (get better, Luke Shaw), Luis Enrique (forced to play the overmatched Mathieu, due to Jordi Alba’s injury) and Rafa Benitez (the next time Marcelo contributes to defense will be his first). It’s not a coincidence, Bayern crashed out of the German Cup on April 28th and lost the UCL final (June 6th) after, the injury to Alaba last April.
6. Arturo Vidal 28 years old– Chile – CM -. For years, the Chilean midfielder has been heralded as the best box to box player in the game, so many saw his signing for Bayern as a huge coup. After his Copa America victory, Vidal has taken a tad longer to fit into Guardiola’s system, but has been a workhorse in the Bundesliga with a 91% passing accuracy and 1 goal so far in 6 matches. With the return of a healthy Javi Martinez, the emergence of young Joshua Kimmich, Thiago’s development and the craftiness of Xabi Alonso, two things are clear: Pep definitely has a ton of options in the center of midfield, and Vidal has his work cut out for him.
7. Kingsley Coman 19 years old– France – RM – 7 million from Juventus
Admittedly, very few of us have heard of former Juve winger Coman, who turned 19 in June and his signing raised a few eyebrows. So far, in 4 games he has 3 assists in the Bundesliga and UCL combined and his speed and dribbling ability is causing all kinds of problems for opponents. While, it’s unlikely that he will feature regularly for Bayern once Robben and Ribery come back (or even without those 2) he is both a luxury for and a credit to Guardiola.
If you’re scoring at home, these 7 players are 24.5 years old on average, which means that most of them will likely get better. Yikes!
VI.
In the end, perhaps, it is a bit of a combination of injury health (Thiago, Alaba, Javi Martinez) “luck” (Robben, Ribery), and coaching, but it appears that Guardiola and Bayern have stumbled upon a new identity. In this style, unlike in previous years, where Robben and Ribery would dribble inside from the wing and more often than not try to shoot, the attack flows inside out, to the wing, where Kingsley Coman (or Götze/Müller) and Douglas Costa are always looking for Lewandowski and Müller in the box. And they would be wise to do so in the future.
Of course, just one day after the thrashing of Dortmund, news broke that Bayern Munich’s honorary President Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer has urged Guardiola to decide quickly on his future. Maybe, instead of Seven Nation Army the following song „Demons” by Imagine Dragons would be more accurate for Guardiola, particularly this part:
“When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide”
Abel Meszaros
Jürgen Klopp’s move to anfield seems to have a consensus from everyone that it is a perfect match. Here is a man who took Borussia Dortmund from the doldrums of mediocrity in the German Bundesliga to being great again, winning the league title back to back in 2011 and 2012, albeit a period when Bayern Munich struggled having also seen the likes of Stuttgart and Wolfsburg win the title as well.
His name Klopp sounds perfectly harmonious with “Kop” much in the same manner as Arsene is to Arsenal. Does this mean now that Liverpool have found their man? The one who will lead them for decades to titles galore and make Liverpool great again, or will he be – as he said, “the normal one” – part of the ever revolving door that managers go through in world football today?
Amidst all the excitement behind Klopp’s appointment, there is some reasoning done.
For starters, I like him and even if he doesn’t succeed this season it will only be because Liverpool have average players at best at the moment. Like the old cliché, he needs time. When he started at dortmund, they were not even close to the top 7. They were struggling and had been for a few years, so he had very little pressure to get them to the top. I’d say they weren’t expecting what he achieved as soon. So his time in Liverpool will be different for a few reasons. (1) the English press is unforgiving. (2) Liverpool will be expecting results and achievements from the off. (3) He has a huge reputation now following him, so anything short of what he did with Dortmund will be seen as failure. (4) The Premier League is the toughest league in the world. No matter how good your team is, you can get gobsmacked on any given saturday, sunday, or monday. Never mind when there are midweek games, and also during the holiday period; there are no breaks.
All in all, he will bring some excitement to the league, his press conferences will be refreshing in contrast to his predecessor’s.
Welcome to The Premier League Jürgen “Kop”.
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Great Read
The draw for the UEFA Champions League fixtures has concluded and it has brought up some really tasty matchups to look forward to. This champions league season is sure to excite us fans and once again, produce some stellar days of football on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Below I’ve picked out some of the most anticipated matchups of the group phase with the outstanding one being
Real Madrid vs PSG
Angle Di Maria will be suiting up against his former team for the first time ever; recently fired former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti left PSG for Real; and with so many world class super stars in both sides, it promises to be a mouth watering encounter.
Here are a few other tasty matchups to look forward to:
Juventus vs Manchester City
FC Bayern vs Arsenal (Yet another rematch)
Chelsea vs Porto (Mourinho returns)
Sevilla vs Juventus (Llorente returns)
The draw for the UEFA Champions League fixtures has concluded and it has brought up some really tasty matchups to look forward to. This champions league season is sure to excite us fans and once again, produce some stellar days of football on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Below I’ve picked out some of the most anticipated matchups of the group phase with the outstanding one being
Real Madrid vs PSG
Angle Di Maria will be suiting up against his former team for the first time ever; recently fired former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti left PSG for Real; and with so many world class super stars in both sides, it promises to be a mouth watering encounter.
Here are a few other tasty matchups to look forward to:
Juventus vs Manchester City
FC Bayern vs Arsenal (Yet another rematch)
Chelsea vs Porto (Mourinho returns)
Sevilla vs Juventus (Llorente returns)
Juventus have confirmed in a statement on their official website, the departure of Fernando Llorente to Sevilla FC on a free transfer after his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Llorente will move to Sevilla on a 4 year contract with a €20m buyout clause inserted into the contract.
Here’s the statement Juventus published on their website:
Upon arriving in Turin in the summer of 2013, El Rey Leon quickly established himself as a mainstay in attack, scoring 18 goals as the Bianconeri romped to a resounding third consecutive Scudetto title in 2013/14.
The Spaniard added a further nine strikes to his Juventus tally the following campaign, helping his side to a fourth Scudetto in a row, a tenth Coppa Italia triumph and a record seventh Italian Super Cup in Shanghai earlier this month.
Llorente had a knack for scoring decisive goals in important matches, including his very first in the black and white stripes in a 2-1 victory against Hellas Verona in September 2013 and a memorable headed equaliser against Real Madrid two months later at Juventus Stadium.
A force to be reckoned with on the pitch, polite and amiable off it, El Rey Leon demonstrated a tireless work ethic during his time at the club and reaped just rewards with goals and silverware.
Everyone associated with Juventus Football Club would like to wish Fernando all the best for his new adventure in the south of Spain.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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