At the end of the current season, German giants Bayern Munich will bid farewell to manager Jupp Heynckes, who has engineered many a success for the club this season.
Apart from clinching the Bundesliga title in record time, they are in the semi-finals of the European Champions League and in the finals of the German Cup. As of last week, Munich had won 25 of 29 matches conceding only 13 goals – phenomenal figures indeed.
In the Champions League they have won seven games, more than any other team and have made it to the last four in style.
The club might boast of some of the best players in the world, but credit must also go to Heynckes, who has astutely rotated the squad and got the best out of the entire team. Here is a manager who is on the verge of signing off from the club with a historic treble.
Bayern’s perennial success has been orchestrated by their president Uli Hoeness and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and make no mistake, the club possesses an exceptional squad that makes the task of any competent manager easier to produce results.
Considering how well the Bavarians have done this year, Heynckes, who will be retiring at the end of the season, will be replaced by Pep Guardiola next season. But do they really need the suave Spaniard?
Guardiola is indeed a big catch for Munich having won a series of trophies with Barcelona in his four years at the Nou Camp. He was elevated to the manager role of the senior side at a time when the team was already known to move the ball around swiftly.
But with due respect to him, one must admit that he had a luxury of brilliant players at his disposal to produce results and win competitions abiding by his slick and stylised game-plan of pin-point passing and possession.
But Bayern Munich plays a different brand of football and isn’t famed for playing a possession-oriented game.
Even though they have players who can carve out openings with defence-splitting passes, they do rely on the individual brilliance of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery to create something out of nothing.
Guardiola is likely to transform Bayern’s formation from 4-2-3-1 to his favoured 4-3-3. Pep enjoys having ball-playing midfielders at centre-back, full-backs who push forward and an anchoring defensive midfielder.
It will be interesting to see what role Javi Martínez will play. In all probability, he will either play as centre-back or in a Busquets-like role.
Martinez exemplifies the type of player Guardiola prefers, one who can play in various positions without a dip in performance.
Bayern’s possession stats are expected to rise under Pep and this is where the Cruyff philosophy of ‘if you have the ball, the other team can’t score’ comes into play.
Barca’s best defenders are their attackers, pressing up the field which means that Bayern’s front three will have to take on defensive as well as offensive duties.
Guardiola has one of the biggest challenges of his career ahead of him.
He is a man of principles, one who doesn’t like anyone meddling with his work and is a manager who believes in strong team work ethics.
Arjen Robben could have trouble with that and the Spaniard’s appointment does raise questions about the flying Dutchman’s future at the club.
Time will tell if Guardiola can achieve success a la his stint with Barcelona.
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