Football in Bayern Munich is currently undergoing a revolution. Exciting ideas and formations are being implemented which have never been seen at Bavaria before. The man behind it is none other than one of football’s most decorated coaches Pep Guardiola. He is trying to establish a brand of football which will be associated with Bayern for years to come. How do we define this philosophy or system? Is it practical and result oriented or is he trying to be different for the sake of being different, after all he took over a treble winning team. These are some of the pressing questions being asked about the Bayern trainer.
One thing is quite clear about Guardiola’s system, he expects the players to think tactically and intelligently so that the team moves like a machine. This is a philosophy that dates back to the 1940s , when River Plate popularized it and later it’s successor was the Dutch “Total Football” system of the 70s, Guardiola being a pupil of Cryuff is strongly influenced by this philosophy. However, with changing times ideas evolve, philosophy remains intact execution varies. That is what makes Guardiola great. As he has mentioned often during his interviews he is not “married to a philosophy”, he is proving it even more in this season. Critics say he believes in possession for the sake of possession however in Marti Perarnau’s book Pep Confidential, Guardiola was quoted as saying “I loathe all that passing for the sake of it, all that tiki-taka. It’s so much rubbish and has no purpose. You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition’s goal. It’s not about passing for the sake of it”.
Swag: The Master and the Protege
Football is a simple game, there are eleven players on each side with only one ball so it is obvious that the team which plays with the ball has more chances to score, what matters is what you do with the ball. That has been the focus of Guardiola’s training and tactical set up at Bayern Munich. Prior to Guardiola Bayern lacked vertical threat through the center, chances came on overlapping wing play courtesy Ribery-Alaba on the left and Robben-Lahm on the right. However as the season progresses it is becoming extremely difficult for players of opposition teams and coaches to figure out Guardiola’s next move. Goals have come from all positions and the threat through the center in tight spaces has been more than before.
David Alaba: Universality Redefined
One of the prime reasons for that has been the brilliance of David Alaba who has been given a free role. His injury came at a very unfortunate time however prior to his injury Alaba thrived in a unconventional role which starts off at the center back and ends up as a attacking midfielder. Alaba is there everywhere on the pitch .Xabi Alonso’s vision along with Lahm’s quick movements have allowed Bayern to move much faster with the ball than last season and that is what Guardiola has in mind for Bayern going forward.
Quick transition play based on intelligence without losing control of the game. If anything Pep despises the most is seeing the opposition with the ball in his team’s half, which has formed the basis for a high defensive line and relentless pressing when the ball is lost. A game of football can be won in many ways, however for Guardiola the devil lies in the details. He is always looking for minor details which can change the game in a matter of seconds. Hence he is not always flattered by the scoreline if his team isn’t in full control. He always acknowledges the shortcomings of his side in pursuit of perfection. If his team isn’t in control he isn’t satisfied, which encourages players to raise their level.
Many Bayern players have complimented Guardiola for improving their game. The most notable beneficiaries being Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng. Robben was benched by Heynckes till Kroos’ injury against Juventus in April 2013 since then he has not looked back, however it is quite easy to see that his game has improved a notch since Guardiola came to Bayern. Now he is among the top five players in the world and his performances have highly consistent, perhaps he is in the best phase of his illustrious career. Jerome Boateng had a rough start to Bayern with a disastrous debut which culminated in a disastrous season in 2012. Like Robben he too fell out of favor with Heynckes, who preferred Badstuber-Dante partnership till Badstuber’s very unfortunate injury against Borussia Dortmund in 2012.
Despite missing his first choice center back Heynckes opted for Van Buyten for as far as quarter finals of champion’s league, however with improvement in performances Boateng managed to win his place back. Under Guardiola he has been a completely different player. One of the biggest criticisms of Boateng was the lack of intelligence in his play; anyone watching him these days will not say that. His tactical understanding of the game has improved; almost as good as Badstuber’s reading of the game which had made the later a consistent first choice center back for both Bayern and Germany till unfortunate injuries took their toll on him. Robben and Boateng were two players a lot of critics thought will stand no chance under Guardiola, Robben for the excessive time he spends with the ball without distributing it effectively and Boateng due to his lack of intelligence.
Turns out they have proved their critics wrong and the coach had a major role in it. Guardiola’s style of coaching is very fair, he selects based on the player’s understanding of the game suited to his ideas so that he can execute his tactical plans not based on how the media paints them or their past achievements. Prior to this season a lot had been said about Guardiola not preferring center forwards, Robert Lewandowski continues to defy that argument and has established himself as one of Bayern’s definite starters. Lewandowski is a forward tailor made for Guardiola, willing to drop deep switch play, move to the wings and work for his teammates. His value cannot be judged merely on the basis of goals.
One can argue the job of a center forward is to score goals, but my counter argument to that is the job of a team is to score goals and win the game. In the end the goals are registered towards the team and not just the player, and how you approach the game determines the outcome of difficult matches. Many ex Bayern strikers have scored hat-tricks on a consistent basis against mid to lower level Bundesliga teams however not many strikers have delivered defense splitting passes in Champions League away games like Lewandowski did to set up Robben’s second against Roma. He can start a move and finish it which makes him the perfect executioner of Guardiola’s tactical plans .
The measure of coaches’ abilities in the end will be the results he achieves along with how he has achieved them. For all the discussions about various formations, style of play and shape of the team in the end everything boils down to results. Even the best ideas when not executed properly will go unappreciated. As a former player, captain and club icon of one of the biggest clubs in the world Guardiola understands it perfectly. This has been highlighted by his trophy haul. Eighteen trophies in five seasons of coaching is no mean achievement. He started coaching since 2008 and no coach has won more league titles , domestic cups or champions league than him in that period.
This despite him taking a year’s sabbatical. His ideas and detail oriented approach to football in the end is only to achieve results. His big failure to Madrid last year was due to him not believing in himself, he opted for a formation and approach which he had vowed he would never use . However, every great coach has shown the ability to bounce back from a major failure and Guardiola proved it against Dortmund in the German Cup final. He put forward a brand new formation, and dropped his main striker who was not on board with his tactics despite him topping the scoring charts. People would have thought it was a very risky move but in the end the results justified his approach.
He continues to take Bayern forward with a system rather than a formation, with a philosophy that creates an identity, a brand of football which fans will associate with Bayern. A few seasons back an injury to a player like Schewinstieger or Robben would have derailed Bayern’s season. However Guardiola seems to find solutions despite injuries, his squad is stretched thin even his back up keepers are injured, however in football there are no excuses. Much of the success must be attributed to his system and his work with the players to improve their tactical nous of the game. All said and done one must remember trophies are handed out in May and if the current path is followed one cannot rule out Bayern being in hunt for all three trophies at the end of the season.