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.
Blue Devil
Guest
Johnno, FYI http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2263567/Pep-Guardiola-joined-Bayern-Munich-Chelsea-history-stability.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/16/pep-guardiola-bayern-munich-chelsea http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jan/16/pep-guardiola-seduced-bayern-munich http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/17/bayerns-philosophy-echoes-that-of-barcelona-%E2%80%93-just-without-the-debt/ Also: Bernitez is the Blues' eight coach since the sacking of Mourinho in September 2007. Even though Bayern haven't had the best track record lately (Klinsmann and van Gaal in his second year were debacles), Abramovich is standing in the way of good managers being allowed to show their worth at Chelsea. In contrast, at Munich Guardiola has a very good chance to achieve his goals as a manager, and to leave the club at his choosing via the front door.
k77sujith
Guest
Not because of his credentials but to see if he can raise the profile of Arsenal and win trophies with the Gunners..with due respect to Wenger of course.
k77sujith
Guest
I would've liked to see Pep take over Arsenal but that's not going to happen.
Johnno
Guest
Does Bayern Munich share any similar philosophies, to Barcelona football or Spanish football. Everyone says German football, and the German club's philosiphises are more like the EPL clubs in England , with there culture and how they are run than Spanish teams or a team like Barcelona. Pep would identify more with a Chelsea style , than a Bayern Munich. Chelase attacking and free flowing, and loose defence and the land the individuall, Bayern Munich, less touch, and more focused on defence and team orientated than the individual.
AlexThanopoulos
Roar Rookie
I agree with Pep taking the easy option. This Bayern team is phenominal right now. Plenty of spending power and wage allowances allows them to bring in the Goetze's of the world. The Barca team of the Pep era was also one of the best in the era or ever. I could have semi successfully managed that side! If Pep wants to be remembered he needs to: a) SAF style of building new teams over an extended period of time b) Jose - doing it with different clubs and still achieving at the highest level Either way, this Team is not going away any time soon.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Agree. Plus it seems Lewandowski is also on his way to Munich. If they keep stealing Dortmund's best every year the bundesliga will be a one horse race. Not too happy about that tbh. Regarding guardiola, no offence but he definitely chose the easy option in signing for bayern, which is fair enough but i would have preferred a bigger challenge than that. Quite a few coaches would do well at Bayern anyway. Pep is a clever man but not up for a challenge (yet).
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
Quality manager but keeping them at the top of their game like they are now will be no easy feat.
pete4
Guest
With Guardiola replacing Heynckes who would have just won the German title as possibly as at minimum being in Champions League final will bring an enormous expectations on Guardiola. You just wonder why Bayern chased Guardiola in the first place because it's the first time I've heard Heynckes will retire
k77sujith
Guest
Yup, they destroyed Barca. It would be interesting to see how much Pep would change their playing style considering how well they are doing right now.
Football United
Guest
Bayern + Gotze + Pep = Back to Back trebles. They completely and utterly destroyed barca this morning, i can't see their new reign of terror ending soon.