Germany

Sasha Gracanin

Jürgen Klinsmann came to Bayern after they had dominated the Bundesliga throughout the previous season. In the 2008/2009 outing, an even better team was assembled, but nothing indicated that the German champions could perform this badly.

Nobody expected the same amount of domination, the other teams prepared wisely and invested into improvements. Bayern did of course invest just the same, Massimo Oddo came in on loan, Tim Borowski, a good friend of Miroslav Klose, came to stay, Franck Ribery’s injury healed well, he plays like he never took a break, Luca Toni is at his best, Ze Roberto returned as dangerous as ever, the whole team shoots goals and is an attacking machine. Why aren’t they winning?

What actually changed? Ollie Kahn stopped playing. That’s it? Actually, yes, that’s all, I don’t think that Marcell Jansen leaving for Hamburger SV makes any difference, he did only play 17 games in the previous season.

Lucio is 30, Sagnol is 31, van Buyten is 30, Demichelis is 28 and the goalkeeper Michael Rensing is 24, which is not much for a goalie, Kahn was at his best when he passed 30. Rensing is talented, but he is no Kahn, perhaps one day he may get better, but now he is just plain bad. The Champions League game against Fiorentina was won for one reason only: Fiorentina’s forwards could not find the goal. Adrian Mutu alone should have scored at least three times.

It seems like the defence is too old, they don’t really run as fast as they used to, or perhaps they just don’t care anymore? It is interesting that none of the defensive players are German, just Phillip Lahm, who got injured anyway and is not expected to play again soon. Besides that, all of the defenders are extremely forward oriented; all of them assist with the attack, including Lucio.

Perhaps the problem is that they get more goals than they shoot? Or their attacking strategy neglects completely a defensive coordination? It certainly does not help that Jürgen Klinsmann was also a very good striker, before he went on to become a trainer.

The Bayern defense is also too slow, confused and has a less than apt goalkeeper, who cannot fix any mistakes, because he is too busy cleaning up his own ones.
When the Bayern players get lucky, like it happened with Fiorentina, then they are able to crush the opponent. If the opponent is strong enough to score a goal or two, then Bayern are probably losing the game.

What can Bayern do, short of stealing Wolfsburg’s entire defence from Felix Magath?

Bayern Munich 01/02 THIAM

They need someone like Nemanja Vidic, a young power-horse who can run, is eager to prove himself and talented enough to shine. And they need a seasoned goalkeeper, someone who is not only talented and good, but experienced enough in order to stabilize the defence when it’s getting rough. Two people, who need to be picked wisely.

Phillip Lahm was supposed to be the defensive kid, but unfortunately he is never in the back defence, but always playing a wingback. They need such a talented kid for a full back. A goalkeeper will be a much tougher pick, perhaps now talking to Jens Lehmann, who has only a one-year contract with VfB Stuttgart, would be a good idea, he is 38, but he is still very good. If he stays for a year or two,  maybe that would be enough for Rensing to wise up.

But most of all, Klinsmann needs to employ someone who is very good at defensive tactics. The defence is just awful, like Swiss cheese, there are holes everywhere. Apparently the conditioning is not the problem, all the defenders help out with the attack, but then it must be disobedience to the trainer or simply getting caught up in attacking fever too often.

I mentioned Vidic and Manchester United, where the defence is active in the attack only when standard situations, like a corner or a free kick are given, otherwise Vidic and Rio Ferdinand stay put. You don’t see Lucio or Demichelis stay put.

Additional problems are coming up for the next season, when Bastian Schweinsteiger’s contract is up for renewal. It is to be expected that he leaves. I hope that Bayern and the management have enough intellect to do whatever it takes to keep him, he is to Bayern what Guti is to Real.

Nevertheless, the Bayern team shows improvement in the attack, they will shoot a lot of goals this season; if the idea is to outscore the opponent, then it will provide for interesting and dynamic matches, but it will not provide Bayern with the German title and success in the Champions League.