It was, they said, the impossible job, to follow Jupp Heynckes’ efforts in leading Bayern Munich to the historic Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League treble. In truth, the veteran coach would have faced the same struggle to replicate that success had he been invited to stay on past 2012/13, but Pep Guardiola always had an uphill battle to repeat last season’s extraordinary feats.
Arguably, that vain hope went out of the window back in August, when Bayern lost at Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup, meaning Guardiola could not match Heynckes trophy-for-trophy (though winning the Club World Cup, as Bayern did against Raja Casablanca, was not an option open to Guardiola’s predecessor). Yet after an inevitable settling-in period, the 42-year-old’s subtle yet significant changes look as if they will enable the world’s greatest current club side to continue to grow.
What’s changed under Pep
Shape
The most notable – and in the early days, polemic – switch implemented by Guardiola has been the move from two midfielders stationed in front of the defence to just one. The idea is the same as the one he used at Barcelona. The deepest midfielder drops in almost as a third centre-back when the full-backs go all the way forward, which is fairly often given how Bayern (and Barcelona) dominate most matches.
Thiago Alcântara was purchased with this in mind. Accordingly, WhoScored’s average position charts tend to show the Spain under-21 midfielder as Bayern’s third-deepest outfield player, just in front of the two centre-backs. Philipp Lahm has also performed this role, most notably in the emphatic Champions League win at Manchester City in October, which is possibly the keynote display of the Guardiola era so far.
It has been an undisputable success in one sense. This season, Bayern have an even greater mastery of possession. Only Dante and Holger Badstuber completed 90% or more of their passes last season. This term, ten players have attained that magic figure to date. Unsurprisingly, Bayern enjoy by far the most possession of any Bundesliga side, averaging 71.1% per game. Borussia Mönchengladbach are next best, with 56%.
Yet there is little dogmatic about the Guardiola way. Bayern have excelled at mixing it up. The above numbers aren’t all short, tapped passes - the champions also lead the way in long-range passing, with an average of 33.8 accurate passes played off the ground per game so far.
Mario Götze
When announced in spring, Götze’s move back to his birthplace of Bavaria was seen as a hammer blow to the balance of power in the Bundesliga, fatally weakening Dortmund. It is a well-worn Bayern tactic, but that was never the whole reasoning behind it. Cast as greedy by irate Dortmund fans who pilloried their old favourite in the clubs’ November league meeting, Götze was simply fulfilling a professional ambition, “to work with this extraordinary coach,” as Jürgen Klopp lamented in conceding this cherished talent to Guardiola.
The new man always wanted a Götze type to evolve Bayern. The 21-year-old had already played the ‘false nine’ position for the national team, and has been used in the central role for Bayern too, most notably in his goalscoring return to his old club. Götze has been used on the right, the left and behind Mario Mandzukic too, and has the craft to adapt.
He also has the breadth of qualities to suggest he can thrive as a central striker long-term. As well as scoring 4 times in 7 Bundesliga starts, he has 3 assists, an 87.8% rate of pass success and a surprisingly high tackle rate of 1.9 per game, showing his value as the first line of defence.
What’s stayed the same
No reliance on one player
Bayern are the Bundesliga’s top scorers with 42, yet only Mandzukic (10 goals in 12 starts) represents them in the top 10 of the competition’s goalscoring charts – Dortmund, on 38 goals, have Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus included.
As is Guardiola’s predilection, a relatively small number of players has again been used – 21 so far in this Bundesliga campaign compared to the 24 who saw action in the last one. Everybody has been made to feel involved, yet nobody is totally indispensible. Of the outfield players, no player has started more than 13 out of the 16 Bundesliga games so far.
Bayern’s breathtaking collective power is something that could possibly weaken Franck Ribéry’s Ballon d’Or candidature – how do you pick one standout Bayern player from 2013 when there have been so many stellar performers? – but this is anecdotal when one judges their achievements. Ribéry is the greatest symbol of their workrate, but by no means the only exponent. Arjen Robben and Mandzukic are key in pressing the opposition back and the previously unheralded Rafinha has been encouraged to push forward more and more.
Pressing the opposition hard
The considerable gap in class between Bayern and Barcelona in last season’s Champions League semi-final couldn’t conceal the fact that the sides weren’t a million miles apart in terms of style. Heynckes’ side pressed the opposition hard when Bayern didn’t have the ball.
It’s unsurprising that Guardiola’s side have continued this trend, though they have found new ways in which to do it. Martínez was pushed further forward than anybody in the first half of the November win at Dortmund, before a second half move to centre-back moved his average position further back.
Typically, Guardiola’s Bayern have at least six and often seven players taking up average positions within the opposition half, whatever the nature or quality of the other team. Dortmund’s full-backs were prisoners in their own half in November, and Markus Gisdol’s ultra-attacking Hoffenheim team were only able to have Kevin Volland take up an average position within the Bayern half during their October match in Sinsheim.
Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, just had Sidney Sam, Emre Çan and Stefan Kießling consistently outside their rear third of the pitch whilst hanging on for a draw at the Bay-Arena earlier in the same month – a match in which the Bundesliga’s second-placed club had just 22% possession on their home patch. Guardiola’s Bayern are a machine that shows little sign of letting up.
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