Inter 0-1 Bayern: Gomez nicks it at the end
The line-ups for most of the first half - though Gustavo and Pranjic started the other way around, and strangely switched within the first five minutes
Mario Gomez struck very late to give Bayern a crucial first leg lead.
Leonardo was without Diego Milito (injured) and Giampaolo Pazzini (cup-tied). He played Dejan Stankovic and Wesley Sneijder off Samuel Eto’o.
Louis van Gaal played the same XI that started the weekend game against Mainz, though had to make a change towards the end of the first half when Danijel Pranjic got injured. Breno replaced him, with Holger Bastuber going to left-back.
The game was surprisingly open, with a chance for Andrea Ranocchia in the opening minute, following a set-piece. Dead ball opportunities provided the most obvious openings for the home side, with their other good chance in the opening period falling to Eto’o, after Lucio had stayed up for a corner and played the ball across the box.
Bayern superior
Bayern were the better side, however, shading possession and creating more chances. Inter were perhaps surprised by how Bayern have changed in the nine months since the sides met in the European Cup final. Then, Bayern were a counter-attacking side, who played almost exclusively through Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery down the flanks. This season (partly because of the absence of those two) they’ve become more possession-orientated, and that showed here.
Inter immediately dropped very, very deep when they lost the ball – deeper than their manager wanted, as Leonardo was visibly encouraging his side to move higher up the pitch. As a result, Bayern had plenty of time on the ball – in particular, the full-backs had no direct opponent, much like in the first half against Roma, the last time they played in Italy. Philipp Lahm and Pranjic didn’t do anything great on the ball, but they did force Inter’s outside midfielders to come to meet them, opening space in the midfield. The full-back also helped work 2 v 1 situations with Robben and Ribery.
Central midfield battle
The situation with Inter’s two attacking midfielders was interesting. Sneijder pulled out to the left, Stankovic played deeper and to the right. Bayern’s two deep central midfielders didn’t necessarily track them – they instead made sure they kept the distance between themselves and the Bayern back four tight. Bayern’s full-backs played very narrow to help crowd out Inter’s attacking trio – so it was usually 6 v 3 in a very tight area. Inter’s problem was that they usually only attacked with three players – there was little drive from midfield, and the full-backs had Bayern’s wingers to deal with. Inter were the definition of a broken side.
Schweinsteiger had time on the ball, and knocked plenty of passes out to Lahm at right-back
Second half
Inter were more positive in the second half. They played higher up and didn’t let their defence drop so deep. They were still vulnerable to 2 v 1 situations down the flanks, however, and Bayern created a golden chance from a cross in the 47th minute, that Muller headed wide.
It became increasingly clear what Inter’s problem was when they didn’t have possession – Sneijder and Stankovic weren’t doing anything. The Bayern full-backs were free, whilst their holding players found it easy to move from side to side into space. In this respect, it wasn’t dissimilar from the way Leonardo exited the competition last season, when his Milan side crashed out to Manchester United, mainly because Ronaldinho and Pato did absolutely nothing when their side didn’t have possession. Leonardo’s commitment to attacking football is admirable, but it might well cost him dear again – and it’s especially unsustainable when the ‘attacking’ football doesn’t produce any goals.
Substitutions changed the game little. Houssine Kharja replaced Ranocchia because of injury, with Zanetti going to left-back and Cristian Chivu moving into the centre – but that was the second and final change of the game – and both were because of injury. Neither side changed their system or their overall strategy, both managers were content.
If you were to break the game down into nine ten-minute sections, Inter’s most positive part of the game was probably in the final ten minutes. Such is football, that was when Bayern scored – Robben was allowed inside onto his stronger foot, and his swerving drive wasn’t held by Julio Cesar – Gomez pounced to get the goal that he didn’t deserve, but his team certainly did.
Conclusion
A surprisingly open game. Bayern were by far the better side here – they were organised without the ball, dominated possession, and manufactured better chances by working the ball down the flanks. The only surprise was that their goal took so long to come.
It has been a disastrous European Cup round for Italian clubs so far – all three clubs at home, all losing. More specifically, all three sides have been vulnerable to width and pace, and Italian football seems an era behind the rest of Europe this season.
Inter 0-1 Bayern: Gomez nicks it at the end
IMO the biggest mistake Leo and Inter did was that they were lacking width in their attacking. Without width it’s impossible to have any kind of possiosion footbll.
srry for spelling,
Slightly surprised(or maybe not that surprised) that Leonardo didn’t go for a 4-2-3-1 replacing one of the defensive mids. for Pandev. Would help track Lahm and create some width.
Problem is Inter does not really have the wide players for the 3. Eto’o is stuck as striker because Milito and Pazzini cannot play. Pandev may help but his season has been dismal so far. Coutinho has not played for a long time.
If Milito makes the return leg, then we may see the lineup in CL final.
The ful back for Inter seemed lost in space. Maicon should have done better. Agree with you Inter do not have width
Exactly what rawr said, Inter didn’t have the players for a 4-2-3-1 yesterday. A few weeks ago I suggested Nagatomo playing on the left of the 3. It seems Leonardo agreed with me because he played Nagatomo in an advanced position, but his passing was woeful.
The only other options would be Pandev-who can’t control a ball on his current form; or Coutinho-who has played 45 minutes in the last 3 months (and not a good 45 minutes at that).
Leonardo probably made the best choices based on what he had available, I would have liked to see Coutinho play the last 30 minutes of the game, but would he have accomplished anything?
Nice once again, thank you. However, I wouldn’t say Bayern was a counter-attacking team last year. To the contrary, they were taught possession play right from the start of van Gaal’s reign. Remember the final, didn’t Bayern have 70 % or so possession then (without making anything out of it)?
Bayern without attacking threat on the left after Pranjic went off, since Badstuber never joined attacks. Maicon could have made much more use of that situation. Same thing with Lahm, who could have helped Robben a lot more. But then, I can’t remember one single good cross by him anyway, Robben dealt with Chivu and Ranocchia on his own and it was certainly more important to track Sneijder down.
Eto’o is one hell of a player. Didn’t see the ball more than every 10 mins, but when, havoc wreaking every time.
Definitly agree to the point that Bayern never have been a counter attacking side. Van Gaal’s philosophy is based on posession and ball retention.
Anyway great article as always. Just that little point.
Here’s an article about Van Gaal’s philosophy around the time he came to Bayern.
From his time with AZ: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/feb/16/leander-schaerlaeckens-eredivisie-dutch-football
“Built on the foundation of Total Football, AZ’s game is to sit back and wait for their opponents to overstretch themselves and then break out.”
You might say he did this because of AZ’s “lack of quality”, but if you look at Bayern at their most successful they play similar to Van Gaal’s AZ. And this is definitely an adaptation to modern football. Yes, he’s tried to bring in a more possesion based approach this year, but supposedly a lack of a true playmaker, has hindered this approach and led to Bayern’s poor start to the season. Now that LVG has brought back some emphasis for counter attacking (Muller as second striker/Robbery back in action), results have been better. This of course parallels last season, where Bayern started poorly because they couldn’t succumb to LVG’s highly systemized methods and he had to allow for a style partly based on individualism (Robben). Something he did not normally do in the past (Rivaldo). So, it is wrong to say that Bayern has “never” been a counter attacking side (they partly are), and that Van Gaal’s philosophy has always been the same.
Interesting point. I never saw vGaal’s Bayern as a counter-attack team, quite the opposite. Maybe there will be a change sooner or later?
The two years of van Gaal with Bayern, they have played possession-oriented, slow build-up football, plus Robben. Of course counter attacks happen every now and then if the opponent just screwed up an attack, but that was never (never!) Bayern’s primary strategy with vGaal. I have followed the Bundesliga the last two seasons and I can not recall a single match where (sitting deep and) counterattacking was their strategy/philosophy. On the other hand, if Bayern played Barcelona, they would probably end up as a counter team, since Barca probably is much better at possession
Totally agree with Diverinho. In the Eredivisie AZ was an underdog, so VG played it differently. In the Bundesliga Bayern is the 600 pound gorilla. The opponents whether home or away don’t generally outplay Bayern. So this tactic won’t work at all.
well i watched the machings and i thought the inter milans were much betterings than the bayern munchens. i think the inter milans played too narrowings and deepings, this means that the inter milan could not hold possesion of the footballings…
I agree 100%
I was surprised with Stankovic instead of Pandev, who could do better than Stankovic both defensively and attacking. Bayern had possesion but Inter had they chances also. It was open match.
I think it’s open contest. If Inter switch to 4 3 3, with 2 wide stikers and one central they could get something of it, in my opinion.
Bayern is all about possession since van Gaal took over. Last year they were caught on the counter attack by Inter. Bayerns formerely struggling central defence has been replaced, and this time they were not outwitted by Inters aggressiveness or partial minimalism.
Thanks for the quick report.
I found interesting to see how defensively disciplined Ribery and Gomez were, those two used to do not much for the defensive before the last game against Inter. Offense was a different story, Ribery gets stuck way too often. Gomez continues his streak of success, after a rather quiet game he still had the right positioning and speed at the one time that counted in the end. His style of play makes him look bad more often than not but all the goals he’s netting lately show his true worth.
I couldn’t see the game but I had checked the formations on the UEFA.com (which was not different from what you have provided above) some fifteen minutes before the game and I thought at that moment that the reason why Leonardo would be playing with a relatively ’silent’ right wing is to give open space for Maicon and let him give hard time to Pranjic whereas at the left he would be deploying Chivu against a dangerous, attacking-minded (and pacey) Lahm and wouldn’t assign him to play high up on the pitch. Yet, most of the time what you think at home does not get realized on the pitch and it seems that that is what happened for Leonardo tonight at San Siro.
However, I will disagree with what you think about the current situation of the Italian football – as you have many times presented here over and over again, Udinese and especially Napoli play a very ‘exclusive’ level of football in terms of the tactical innovations that they bring on the pitch; I expect Napoli to be a very big problem against the Champions League teams next season specifically at home (with their wonderful fanbase).
Normally I’m used to see more from Maicon an Ribery. In my opinion both of them neutralized each other. So both did not look as brilliant as normally, but did a great job.
“Gomez pounced to get the goal that he didn’t deserve”
Why? I recall just one chance (except for the goal), but his defense work was admirable in the 2nd half, disrupting the Inter game and helping Bayern to create attacks. And in the case of Ribery’s header, it was him who drew the defenders out. Granted, he lost the ball twice in promising situations, but there were plenty of unforced errors in the game tonight. IMO one of the most misjudged players. Great work anyway – once again.
Well what really surprised me was, that Inter was really playing too defensive, considering they were playing at home.
As some of you wrote above, Inter was not only lacking width, but also creativity in midfield.
Cambiasso, Zanetti and Motta are normally more holding midfielders, who can better destroy the opposition’s attacks than offer support for the own offense.
Adding to that, Stankovic is more a box to box midfielder than an offensive midfielder who plays between the lines and acts behind the striker.
So what happened in the game? Bayern had a very high d-line and was putting pressure on the Inter-midfield very early, nearly in the opposition half, so that Inter had real difficulties to build the game from behind.
I think this was the main reason, why Inter lost today.
Because the 3 holding midfielders couldnt deal with the high pressure, since you really need some creativity and technical skills to hold possession, when the opposition team is really pressing forward.
This lack of creativity in the Inter-midfield caused a lot of missed-passes and the players also started to get nervous, since they couldnt really outplay the Bayern-midfield, allthough Inter played very narrow and had much more players playing/staying in the center than Bayern, who had only Schweinsteiger and Gustavo.
It was a very poor performance from Stankovic…Zanetti and Cambiasso worked hard defensively to double up on Ribery and Robben only for Motta to be left alone in the middle with two opponent midfielders.He in turn dropped too deep and you could even see Gustavo shooting twice (or more?) from distance,while both Sneider and Stankovic weren’t putting any defensive effort.Although my belief is that Sneijder was instructed to be always available for a counter.
Chivu put on a below par performance as well.He didn’t offer any attacking option on the left while he was being ridiculed by Robben all night long.
Had it not been for an astonishing Eto’o Inter would’ve seemed like an easy opponent for Bayern.The only difficulty it posed was that it was hard to score against.Gomez spent the night in oblivion but I must admit I loved the way he was lurking for that goal right on Lucio’s back and not in front of him.That made all the difference
Yup, that was exactly the problem. Doubling up on the wingers created too much space for Schweinsteiger/Gustavo. From Gustavo I hope he’d shoot a little less and try pass instead with the space given, but he’ll work it out with more games with his new teammates.
Lol i did an article on nullifying a 4-3-2-1 a while ago and looks like bayern took some poitners from it lol. o:I think there use of an extremely narrow defence was clever and something i didnt think of. I choose to nullify the 2 treqs by pushing up, but i guess you cant do that with eto being quick as lightening.
Here check out the article
http://footballphilosphy.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-stop-nullify-palermo-and-their.html#comments
i like your articles, they appear to be a good counterweight to the discussions you find on here, keep up the good work..!
I came into this game with 2 main thoughts:
- Robben is the 3rd best winger in the world (that’s if Messi is counted as a winger these days; if not, then Robben is 2nd only behind Ronaldo).
- Ribery is the most overrated player in the world.
Nothing that I saw during this game changed my mind. In fact, it made me believe in those 2 things even more. I thought Robben was tremendous, and was the best player on the field for the full 90 minutes. His ability to cut into the middle of the field to get his shot at basically any time he wants is simply outstanding.
On the other hand, Ribery is so wasteful with the ball, it amazes how this guy is considered a world-class player. Forget about a great game – I still haven’t seen Ribery have a good game from all the times that I’ve watched him play. He seems to always want to do too much with the ball than what’s needed. I wish we can see a chart of how many dribbles he failed to complete, or how many passes he wasted that could have resulted in a very good scoring chance. It seems to me like he’s a good crosser of the ball, so maybe his best position would be as a right-winger, rather than a left-winger where he has to cut in more to have an impact on the game.
Another thing that I think would be great for Bayern is if they moved Muller to the left-wing. Here is what I’d do if I were Bayern after this season is over:
- Sell Ribery
- Sell Kraft
- Buy Coentrao (Benfica)
- Buy Neuer (Schalke)
- Buy Mikel (Chelsea)
Use the following formation:
———————Neuer——————–
-Lahm———-X————–X——Coentrao-
——————–Mikel———————
——-Gustavo/Kroos—–Schweinsteiger——-
–Robben—————————-Muller—-
——————Gomez———————–
It’s basically Barcelona’s style. You have two attacking full-backs (Alves/Abidal), who can stay forward most of the game because you can afford to drop Mikel back to create three at the back (like Barca does when they use Busquets that way). You won’t have as much creativity in midfield as Barca has, but you still have a holding midfielder in Schweinsteiger who’s terrific distributing the ball to both flanks, or play the short ball if needed (like Xavi). Then on the wings you have two capable scorers, who have a great feel for the game, and won’t be lazy helping defensively back when needed. Last but not least, they’d have a great target man up-front in Gomez.
I left the two “Xs” in center-half because I’m not sure if Bayern is happy with their current group or if they want to improve in that area.
Well if you were Bayern and did these after the season was over then Van Gaal would quit his job
I really don’t think he tries to emulate the Barcelona style.And I must also point out that Gomez,as great a target man as he is,he wouldn’t fit in Barcelona’s style since it clearly doesn’t include a target man at the moment.To me the line up you present looks more like a Chelsea 4-3-3 albeit with inverted wingers.
The classification of Robben as the third best winger in the world is a really fun topic but it’s completely subjective.Well maybe that is indeed the fun of it hehe…personally I’d put Pedro or Bale in Robben’s place.I am by no means questioning his abilities but i do rate the other two higher
Good point on Gomez, I guess I didn’t think that through all the way
And yeah, I love both Pedro and Bale as players, but I just think Robben is better at anything they do (though Bale has a chance to become better very soon if he continues his play – he just has to do it for longer. And I guess the same can be said about Pedro, he really came out of nowhere last season.).
Bit of a semantics issue here.
Bale is not a winger, even if during the past thirty years the term has come to mean anyone playing in a wide position from midfield onwards.
Robben and Pedro play in a band ahead than him; they’re classical wingers (outside-forwards) and both were schooled to play wide in a 4-3-3.
Bale is more of a wing-back stationed in wide-midfield. It is hard to imagine him playing so high up the pitch without space to gallop into.
It’s unfair to compare them, as such.
People know Pedro ONLY because he plays with a bunch of all star players.
If he played for ANY other Spanish team he would be completely unknown.
Robben carried Bayern to the CL final last year and was a huge part in Hollands success at the WC.
I agree that Robben is the better player, but to say that about Pedro is nonsense.
Robben is – when fit – the most disruptive player on the planet. Leo Messi is still of course the best player but he does not create as much attention in the opposing side (partly because roams around the final third while Robben hugs the right touch line and he is merely the best player on a great with a clear plan of attack)
I think a great example is the World Cup Quarterfinal between Brazil and Holland. It really seemed to me that the Brazilians were in panic mode every time Robben touched the ball.
Other good examples are both the Inter-Bayern games. Inter always wanted to have the Left back and E. Cambiasso available to stop Robben. The goal yesterday then came when Robben was able to easily bypass W. Sneijder (a trequartista) to set up his shot.
It wouldn’t necessarily have to be Barca’s system, but a 4-3-3 is an intrinsically better direct attacking shape than a 4-2-3-1, especially if you’re playing possession football as Bayern do.
Pedro is very good but I don’t think he’s ever once in his career dominated a game in the way that Robben does almost every week.
While, I am a fun of Bayern, and while Robben is a great dominating player, I think his selfish style will get him into problems in Barcelona. I am wondering how the situation is within the squad, because considering how many times Robben raised his hands to get the ball and did not get it, there must be some frustrations.
Mueller (who is like the opposite of him, excusing himself after he shot a goal instead passing) got attacked by Robben for being “disrespectful” of all things in one of the past games after the game in which Mueller kept waving for a pass by Robben and still didn’t get it.
Robben pretty much got the one free role at Bayern, being allowed to do whatever he wants. While during games Mueller (and others) will keep complaining, outside of it everybody knows that Robben is effective enough to not to have to change his playing style. Ribery used to be in the same place before Robben came, and he still managed to improve defensively as seen yesterday.
….selling Kraft? ….he is even a few years younger than Neuer and showed a perfect game….no reason to waste money… van Gaal has an eye for good keepers (see Van de Saar) and it was his idea to replace Butt (a very good and reliable keeper) with Kraft, although everyone (well, nearly everyone) couldn’t understand it …this game showed van Gaal was right and Kraft saved the “0″ a few times …
…and Ribery has a complete different style compared to Robben; …his performance might not have been so spectacular, but he neutralised Maicon and worked a lot….
Kraft is a great shot stopper. He already is a fine goalie for a team dominating play, such as van Gaal’s regular possession football. However, he struggles when the opponents swing in crosses, somewhat helpless in controlling the penalty box. So against strong teams that won’t like to gift the ball to Bayern, Neuer would be much better.
Ribéry did improve a lot defensively, at least in determination to running and covering without the ball. This is a huge improvement though it does come at the cost of his offensive explosiveness. I have high hopes that he will learn to balance his energy better and show his offensive skill set with more success as well.
I think the problem with Kraft might be, that he isn’t anywhere near to be the national sides goalkeeper. And I dont see him surpass Neuer in the near future. With Neuer you’ll have a already great, young goalkeeper who will gain plenty of experience in international tournaments. (World Cup & Euro)
Bayern had a goalie ~20 years ago. played maybe a hand full of games for Germany, but was captain at Bayern. (My brain leaves me, what was his name? picture in the head, but the name…)
No one questioned that, as far as I remember. (think I proved that don’t remember everything.)
You mean Raimond Aumann?
Yes, indeed. thanks!
Same here… The beauty in Barca’s system is how they make use of Messi as a ‘false nine’ as explained many times at this wonderful website; the problem with Gomez is that he is a ‘real nine’. When he does not drop into the midfield, you will not have much space for your wingers and Gomez (at least the one I know) is not that a ‘wanderer’.
Ribery played for Galatasaray in 2005 for half a year and probably he is still the best winger ever played for our team (those were the days just few people knew him around the world – I mean the pre-World Cup 2006 period when he was at 23, I guess) and within a couple of months he proved himself and his skills to a ‘pricky’ Turkish football community and because of some dispute over payments he literally fled to Olympique Marseille, where he also won a couple of league titles. He may not be as good as in those old days but he is always a threat, specifically when he finds open space ahead of him. So, I would say you are definitely underrating him if you claim he is overrated
even if Gomez drops back and works hard. he is not a passer like Messi (Gomez is more of a “ups-lost-the ball-again” player). You could try to put Müller there. who, for my humble opinion, is better in the centre than wide. At least at Bayern. For the national team he is great wide, but they play a little different and Müller and Özil are a great couple when it comes to movement.
I have to defend Ribery here – He’s been struggling with permanent nagging injuries over the last two seasons. When he’s in top form he can be just as devastating on the left as Robben is on the right.
Also you have to hand it to him that since he’s come back from injury a few weeks ago he does something he never used to do – defensive work.
I Partly agree and partly disagree with your views.
- I do not see Messi as a winger anymore, rather a ‘false 9′, i.e. a very deep central striker that often comes deep to link with the midfield and tears holes in the central defence. But if you place him on the wing he would do fine i guess
- I’d say Robben is far better than Ronaldo. Ronaldo does not get past defenders (anymore), and his shot is far less accurate than Robben’s. Robben with the ball is faster than Ronaldo with the ball, although without ball that might be different.
- Ribery was indeed very erratic yesterday, at least offensively. Got lost in a lot of dribblings, totally agreed. But (!) his defensive work was outstanding. Something one will (has) never see(n) from Ronaldo. Ronaldo would have just kept sitting on the pitch, looking to the referee and complaining about a foul (that might have been there), while letting Maicon run. Ribery has just come back after a long injury-driven period, and I think he will be able to improve his vision and teammate awareness. Check his first season at Bayern. He was awesome back then.
Yeah, what about Ronaldo? Have seen a few Real games, and that he doesn’t go around defenders that often is one thing. but his shot is a shame. how did that happen?
what did they say at the guardian (I think): It looks like he practises to look really p***ed after shooting wide. And he shoots wide very often these day.
I don’ know what’s up with Ronaldo. I have the impression he was way better at ManU than he is at Real? Maybe he became slower? Maybe he has a difficult time psychologically because Real have not won anything last season, and he feels all the responsibility is on him to change that this season. I have the feeling very often he cannot really decide on what to do in a certain situation: dribble left, dribble right, and kind of mentally gets stuck. If he was more ‘relaxed’ and could play more ‘freely’ I guess he would be more successful. He wastes a lot of mental energy on worrying, getting stuck in decisions, complaining and then being annoyed by little things. I’d say he needs a mental coach to come back to earlier worldclass routines.
You got the central midfield wrong.
Schweinsteiger is able to play offensive, but the last weeks showed that he struggles if he has to play upfront. Kroos is able to do that, but he actually seems to lack the pace one needs to play offensive in modern football. That might be the reason why he played side by side with Schweinsteiger befor he got injured. Gustavo is also really good when playing deep.
Bayerns main weekness is not their midfield but thei defence. Badstuber might get good enough, Kraft might have some weekness but he is still young enough to learn a few things. Lahm is really good, so Bayern need a second good central defender and a left back.
Might happen that Bayern tries to buy Hummels – van Gaal loves defenders that are able to take part in the build up play – and maybe they will start a second attemped to buy Coentrao or one of the left backs from Hamburg/Dortmund.
Oh and i doubt that Bayern will sell etiher Kraft or Ribbery
How did I get the midfield wrong then? I posted exactly what you just suggested. Kroos/Gustavo as holding midfielders next to Schweinsteiger. Isn’t that exactly what you just said? I’m confused about that …
And I never implied that Bayern’s weakness is midfield. I said that offensively, their weakness is Ribery trying to always do too much, which is why I suggested selling him, moving Muller to the left-wing, and bringing in Mikel to secure the back-line while you’d then have 2 of the best attacking full-backs in the world (if they bought Coentrao like I suggested). It would basically create the following formation when Bayern has the ball:
———————CB————-Mikel—————CB——————
——————–Kroos/Gustavo———Schweinsteiger——————–
—Lahm————————————————————Coentrao-
————Robben———————————–Muller—————–
——————————-Gomez—————————————-
The reason I compared it to Barca is because they like to do something very similar with their full-backs, and then a lot of the times they will push Busquets back into defense, to protect against counter-attacks, so they will always have at least 3 at the back.
Last but not least, I suggested selling Kraft just because I think they should be Neuer. I don’t think it makes sense to keep Kraft on the bench in that scenario.
A Barca copy.
very simple to talk about, but difficult to do.
geguttenbergt?
I think the 4-2-3-1 System is suiting Bayern well.
coz it is not that simple to copy Barca just with copying their formation. and you can play possession football without fielding a 4-1-2-3 (with false nine).
does Bayern have a Messi? a Pedro? a Villa? No. and they never will. so it is useless to go for the Barca system.
they have Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Müller, Gomez, Ribery and Robben. I would field my wingers wid and let them move inside (like Robben and Ribery) and not move them around the pitch, staying narrow at times and then wide (like Villa and Pedro).
Gomez is not like Messi, Müller is not Iniesta.
It’s not about the ultimate formation, it is about the best formation for your team (and how you move). van Gaal knows what he is doing.
Maybe he needs a back up or a third wide man for the injured twins. maybe he needs a left full back and a centre back. but Bayer is working on that, they bought Gustavo. put Tymo in the back four coz he is a better passer than Breno. with van Gaal it is all about the pass. a great development for Bayern and German football.
Well with Mikel Bayern would have at least 5 DMFs in their squad (Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Tymo., Gustavo and Mikel). Who needs that many? AND with that three players in the central midfield, bayern would lack a player that plays in the hole between CBs and DMFs and exploits the space that Robbery create. As the others pointed out, Gomez is not a player who shines when dropping deep and playing “Messi”. With that central midfield you just have got to many people on the field that like to play deep and spray passes – they are all able run forward and score a goal, but that is not what they do best.
And as hwk pointed out, if one wants to strenghten the defense, he might have to deal with Bayerns CBs, not their DMFs or CMFs.
Schwiensteiger and Kroos aren’t “defensive” midfielders. They can easily be box-to-box players. Just because they play in the center of the pitch doesn’t mean they are defensive midfielders. Look at Iniesta and Xavi.
To further strengthen my point, I think both Sweinsteiger and Kroos are more than capable of finding room closer to the goal (like Iniesta and Xavi do), so that Gomez doesn’t have to drop back too deep.
Another point: I never said this was to strengthen Bayern’s defense. Why do people keep bringing this up? This was to make them a better attacking side because I think Ribery messes things up too much offensively.
Last but not least, Van Gaal today confirmed interest in Neuer, and said that if Kraft is afraid of a competition with Neuer, then he’d have to leave. That’s why I said I’d sell Kraft.
- When you have Kroos, Gustavo and Schweini, you will not need Mikel, whatever the tactical details. Just another unhappy midfielder on the bench. Tymo and Pranjic will suffice as replacements.
- You suggest to change Bayern’s tactical formation (completely). From 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-2-3. Well, that would probably also work well, but I do not see vGaal changing this soon. It would just mean a hell lot of work to re-train all the players to their new roles. Maybe during summer as an alternative alignment, to be more flexible, why not…
- Agreed on Coentrao, he is a really good left fullback / wingback.
- Goalie: Agreed that Neuer is better than Kraft, but Kraft would be good enough, and will not make a great difference. I also see that he will strongly improve this season.
- CBs: I’d say that at least Badstuber is ‘good enough’. He is one of Germany’s top central defenders. Maybe Breno becomes good enough, too? Hummels and Hoewedes will not be for sale, neither Mertesacker. Pique would of course be an option
- I see room for improvement for Ribery. Give him 1-2 months without injuries, and I think he will be really good again. I’d like to see Bayern use him and Robben on opposite flanks, though, to have the option of wide, crossing, wingers instead of narrow, cutting-in ones.
Well, if Ribery keeps messing up things offensively like against Inter, then I’d also ‘get rid of him’
You know, the funny thing is that Bayern sold Hummels to Dortmund a couple of years ago, for just 4m euros. They wouldn’t have a defensive problem if they’d just kept him around and played him…
Oh, not again.
Why do so many people think they have to do the transfer work for Bayern?
Robben has a attacking full back on his neck. That makes things a lot easier. Ribery, had this full back too when he joint Bayern.
But I have to admit that Ribery maybe changed a littel bit. Maybe due to the change of football that came with van Gaal, or because of injuries. But I won’t say that he is the most overrated play.
With Robben it is very simple, what he does is great. But, most of the time he does his move again and again.
Both are important, not only coz they open space in the centre.
And really, Gustavo in that position?
not as the anker?
Oh, and Neuer is in the team, of course. And you have no solution for the centre backs?
great manager!!!
Yes, Lahm is one of those few players who makes the man in front of him very strong in every team he plays. He assured Müller’s performance in South Africa and does so with Robben and Ribery at Bayern. A highly important player.
Good write up as always but one correction. Van Gaal instilled a possession/passing game since he arrived. Last year Bayern were second only to Barca in this category and they’ve continued this season. Obviously their game is affected more when Ribery and Robben are missing but overall, they are directed to keep the ball, and play a patient passing game. Sometimes it is more direct (as it has been the past few games).
“It became increasingly clear what Inter’s problem was when they didn’t have possession – Sneijder and Stankovic weren’t doing anything. The Bayern full-backs were free, whilst their holding players found it easy to move from side to side into space.”
Yeah, at this level allowing players to have a jolly by not making them commit to defensive responsibilities is not very impressive. Leonardo has so much to learn and so little time in which to do it. Someone like Stankovic really needs to work his ass off because frankly he’s not the most silky creative player, bit of a midfield chugger all round.
I wonder how much the comedown after the intensity of last season has led to Leonardo accepting that they now want to play in a less disciplined way. Something along the lines of ‘last season was great, but I’m so bored of all that training’. Sneijder in particular seems to do whatever he wants at times for Inter. Miles up the field, doesn’t do anything when Inter don’t have the ball, believes that he is a goalscoring maestro etc etc.
Wasn’t this case with Sacchi’s Milan side? They must’ve loved the success of his methods yet were utterly bored of his training methods by 1991?
I’m surprised there was no talk about Leo’s lack of substitutions. I think Inter approached the game well. With no Milito due to injury and Pazzini being cup tied. They would have either had to play Coutinho who has played 45 minutes in maybe the last month? Or Pandev who by all means is a shadow of the useful player he once was. Playing Stankovic was the best option, perhaps Kharja can have a shout due to superior fitness but Stankovic gets the nod since he’s used to these type of matches. However, it should never have even been an option for him to play a full 90. He had played one game since coming back from injury and was obviously laboring all second half. The fact that Leo didn’t even think to make a sub until Rannochia went down baffles me. Kharja should have come on at 60. Cambiasso also should have come off at about the 75th minute. My choice to sub him would have been McDonald Mariga.
My next gripe with Leo is his handling of Cambiasso and Motta. It’s obvious that Leonardo is in love with attacking football. However, him switching Cambiasso from the base of the midfield to the left side hurts Inter as a team. I understand that Leonardo’s reasoning is for more control and possession over the midfield due to Motta’s superior passing. (In a Pirlo type of way) However, this leaves Cambiasso in a position he is rather ill equipped to succeed at. He is not a box to box type of midfielder, it definitely showed today. He was slow to get up and down and ruined 2 or 3 attacking moves. Not to mention when he got into position his finishing was woeful to say the least. Here’s the thing. Motta and Cambiasso both play better in the middle of the pitch. Neither are 100% comfortable playing on the left side. But can Motta do it a whole lot better then Cambiasso? YES. Both have put in their best performances in the 4-2-3-1 where they can share the center but with no forward options it just wasn’t possible today.
What Inter missed today the most though was Milito. Eto’o was just to alone up top. As great a player as he is you can’t expect him to beat three players and score every time he gets the ball. Milito would have distracted defenders and given the team a much needed option. Not to mention he’s often clinical.
Congratulations to Bayern though. I think a tie would have been a fairer result but I have nothing bad to say. They won fair and square. Second leg should be exciting. Especially if Milito’s back.
tie would have been a fairer result indeed.and i totally agree with leonardo’s lack of subs.He could have given Inter a dynamic and fresh pair of legs might have pushed up the opposition midfirld and get the ”point”.
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Yes, you could see that on the pitch
I think Italian football was a step behind last year as well, if not for Mourinho’s handpicked tactics for Inter.
i disagree in part; the top european “heavyweights” of yesteryear like Inter, Milan, Roma etc are a step behind but i have watched a lot of Napoli and Udinese come up with very “out of the box” formations and player positioning but unfortunately for lovers of tactics neither of these teams are in the Champions League this season so what they have achieved probabaly doesnt get the recognition it deserves but what i am saying is if we look a little past the big names a change in the Italian game is underway and if these two teams can continue their form until the end of the season then they will have the opportunity to show Europe what the are about..
Napoli will make CL, Udinese the Europa next season and both will lose in group stages because playing 3-in-the-back (3-5-2 formation) will be eaten alive by pacey, technical teams, something Seria A severally lacks. Italian football needs to reinvent itself like the Germans have. Bayern Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, German NT playing attractive, attacking modern football. 4-2-3-1
Very good point! I believe it is only a matter of time before the heavyweights of Italy switch to the Napoli and Udinese style formations. Unfortunately, the lack of emphasis by the Milan, Roma, and Inter on width has made sure none of these teams progress any further.
On the other hand, Napoli play Villarreal tonight, a good precursor to seeing them in the CL next season?
Watch the games Napoli played against Liverpool (when LFC were at one of their lowest wanes, and playing B teams, while Napoli were playing their A team) and tell me they’re going to redeem Italy in the CL next year. I like them a lot, but their back 3 is simply too rigid as it is. They need a ball-playing CB comfortable stepping up into midfield.
I’m with letsgogunner at this point.
three at the back is a reaction to other teams playing 4-3-1-2. In Europe the opponents will play a different style and Napoli or Udinese have to adapt.
The big Italian clubs are kind of weired. A few years ago Milan had theo oldest squad, now it’s Inter. What’s the problem in Italy? Are the times of great tacticians from Italy over? Is it all about Serie A and was Mourinho the last manager in Italy who cared about Europe?
Or is it just a financial problem?
the great managers have all left. Prandelli, Spalletti, Capello, Lippi (well, he used to be a great manager), Ancelotti, Mancini, Deschamps… not a single one managing in Serie A. and Gasperini, Ranieri, Benitez (who are decent managers at the very least) have all been fired this year.
Mazzarri is a very innovative manager, but besides him, it’s a bunch of managers who are inexperienced at the highest level, like Allegri, Leonardo, Mihajlovic, Montella… and they’re not exactly prodigies like Mourinho was.
Speaking generally, the striking thing about the 3 Italian teams is that none were able to impose themselves on the game. Inter came closest, but were not in any way superior to Bayern. This is especially worrying for them since they were, of course, all at home. More than anything it seems the lack of speed and, more importantly, fitness, are their real problems. Perhaps it’s due to the slower pace of Serie A, or maybe overall they just don’t have better athletes. Who knows. But in 2 weeks there won’t be any Italian teams left in the Champions League.
I think a big kudos has to go Luiz Gustavo. Bayern bought him in the winter for his ball winnig abilities.
He started as the Left back but van Gaal mentioned on German TV before the match that he would switch positions with D. Pranjic (one of the holders) if W. Sneijder would play as a true trequartista behind S. Eto’o.
After a couple of minutes they made the switch and Gustavo did an execellent job of marking Sneijder out of the game.
Nearly all chance for Inter were created by Eto’o who was otherwise starved of service.
I agree that Gustavo had a decent game, but I wish he would’ve been a bit more brave. He had the opportunity to run at Inter quite a few times, but somehow he just declined to do that. Maybe it’s just me, but it seemed like the central midfield pairing was given very clear instructions, and Bastian was the one with the permission to make occasional runs forward.
I wish Bayern stick with his central role. He was composed on the ball and has a shot in him, besides his obvious defensive skills. A run in that position and those few easy passes he misplaced in the match, should be in the past.
Keep in it was Gustavo’s first match at this level and he’s at Bayern for only two months yet. He still has plenty time to improve.
Bayern were fitter and could add more to the game in 2nd half. But to be fair, Inter played almost twice the matches than Bayern this year. So they were probably a little exhausted of all their league games. But then, Inter is an old side with little fresh blood, whereas the Bayern are replacing their oldies gradually.
Not so interesting game to watch. It seems that Bayern players came more ready for this game. I expected more goals at game. Lucky Bayern won, and it will be tough for Inter in next game.
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Not so interesting game to watch??????????????????
Of course basketball is a far more interesting sport than football. There are goals all the time. And basketball players are really cool dudes.
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How has Muller been playing so far this season? Haven’t seen Bayern play at all, he looked very exciting in the World Cup.
He´s doing well. He scored in Bundesliga, Cup and Champions league 13 goals and gave 14 assists this year. He struggles sometimes and his actions need more accuracy. But he ist still 21 years old, and the whole team got some problems this year. Last year he normally played as a ten. This year he often switched between 10 an left or right winger, when Ribery or Robben weren´t able to play.
In some games he act a little unlucky like now against Inter or last weekend against Mainz. But he is alway a threat. In al three positions he is able to cause some trouble, even on days when he is struggling.
I love Müller. You never know what he’ll be doing next, but you can be pretty sure it will be damn smart.
Yes, his first touch can be erratic, but he can use that to the disadvantage of the defender as well.
He’s been mixed.
He had a little hangover in the first few games, when both Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben were missing, often to the point of completely starving at the right flank. He managed to reinvent himself as a true winger when Gomez started to play from the beginning, feeding him with high crosses and central dribblings.
This however has all been gone the moment Ribery regained his form, which enabled Müller to swiftly switch sides and play more of second striker/false nine role, and saw him pick up goals and scorer points like crazy. Now with Robben back he’s just been terrific, especially considering it’s just his second season since going pro.
He has two “modes” so to speak, he can be a right/left winger with great passing ability at Munich or a generally unpredictable bias towards the center in the national team and incredibly strong work towards the defense or he can play a false nine extremely high up the pitch, always switching towards covering the flanks or making runs to double up the attack or defending in the back. In that position there is no player in the world that covers as much space as Müller does.
He has developed into the most versatile player on Munich’s offense. Just like Schweinsteiger he struggled somewhat in the first half of the season along with the rest of the team when van Gaal was mixing line ups around a lot in order to cope with injuries. What is remarkable is that even if he has a bad game offensively, he will fight through and still come out decent thanks to his work-ethic. He has since stabilized and shown his significant upside once again in recent games.
His vision is incredible which makes him stand out above a large group of players technically more gifted. He will close the technical gap over time, but as vision is something hard to teach I don’t see others catching up to him there.
In contrast to a sad majority of players he can hold his own in interviews with the right mix between wit and sarcasm.
Please note I am biased, as he has become my favorite player through out last season ;=)
really? i thought Bayern was more or less like last year, or from where the team ended last year, in possessioning football style..
i could not find last year’s Bayern – Man 2-1 . Is this removed from the database?
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/30/bayern-munich-2-1-man-utd-tactics/
How many games Inter played in last 45 days? And Bayern? Leonardo has no other option but to play 4-3-2-1.
If i am Leo in this game, I would take Stankovic off, and put Nagatomo as a free man, man mark Robben all the game, like Dinamo Kiev did last year against Maicon.
I don’t even know what Nagatomo wants at Inter. He’s a great player, but at Inter I can’t see him getting the time to play he so deserves.
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i cant agree on ur point about possession. In the clash last year bayern had far more possession than in this match.
「… Italian football seems an era behind the rest of Europe…」
i agree with the statement
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Ok probably missed the fun from above but here goes…
Great game, love watching Bayern slowly load their attacks to the wings. I’m no sure I’ve ever seen a team who show such bias to one side of their attack! If I was Ribery I would be disappointed but understand!
To the bloke above discussing transfer targets. Why Mikel? Would a midfield 3 of Kroos and Schweinsteiger with Gustavo sitting not work? The latter looked very calm in possession and could easily be equal to Mikel. I’ve always liked Ribery but I can understand that he can have poor games. Muller however is not suited to the left unless it was only a starting position. This I suppose is where an attacking full back like Baines would work.
As an aside has anyone ever seen a team play with two wingers on the same side? If you had an excellent full back on the other side I think it would work! Imagine Ribery and Robben attacking down the same side