"Domination", "possession", "control" were the motto of Sabener Strasse since Louis van Gaal took over the team from the heart of Bavaria. Bayern Munich meant until the Van Gaal era, the best German quality football , played strong in midfield with a strong will and offensive enthusiasm.
What has the Dutchman changed?
Known more as a passionate of theory than a motivator - Van Gaal is anything, less a Thomas Tuchel - tactician who tried to make Bayern play as Barcelona . As an accolade, Mainz's strategist recently revealed that he inspired the boys for the success of the Allianz Arena,from the tour, with Al Pacino's speech from "Any Given Sunday." Tuchel Thomas is one of the most innovative coaches in European football, in theory, but especially in the psychology of the game.
Bayern has rarely earned based on such a scenario and when it did, received a dose of hazard. It's not as if Van Gaal's special tactics would be killing the opponent. Bayern had often 65-70% possession, but the gaps have missed or have failed at the game's end. For example, with FC Cologne, in the tour, the Bavarians had the ball 69% of the time, but had not created a decent chance of scoring. Recently, Van Gaal has abdicated its philosophy of an elaborated possession and opted for a "fresher" style, similar to that of Low's Germany. 51% possession with Hoffenheim in the previous round, the result of an impressive 4-0, and a more "conscious" Gomez in front of the gate may be, without exaggeration, 7-8 times.
Many wonder why Jaochim Low gets more results than does Van Gaal from a team with five players of Bayern in the first 11. The answer is obviously based on the last game of the Bavarians: football has evolved and is evolving into a breathtaking pace, so that success can come only through a more elastic understanding of the phenomenon. It's not as if Van Gaal would not read it, he is just a narcissist and a tezist who finds hard to accept other ideas, especially when they are applied to the board. In a league like the Bundesleague, which is not yet the centrifuge money that Premier League is, coaches are forced to continually innovate to create advantages for their teams that do not have players like Drogba, Torres or Rooney to win your games without a proper game plan.
In Van Gaal;s defense we can gather, however, sufficient arguments. Bayern had several problems with the players this season. Without Ribery or Robben, Bayern is not the force it can become with them in the field. The aces return has brought benefits also in other departments and this is the most important aspect of the story. Robben and Ribery make a better team in so many ways. Thomas Muller has become number 10, Schweinsteiger returned in the center, right in front of the defense, where he exceed at the international matches. Practically nobody is missing than Breno to play in the heart of defense, besides Badstuber and Toni Kroos to take his place near Schweinsteiger, as a 6 offensive, to have the ideal formula, at least according to experts.
A Robben Ribery or Ribery change your team radically, but as we saw here, the metamorphosis is more complex, it is really structural, involving the return of several players on their excellent jobs.
Van Gaal's band is not the finished product, but rather a work in progress, but the prospects are encouraging and promising if you're a fan of Bayern Munich. Next match is against Mainz, in the championship, then the first game with Internazionale in Europe. Even if the double confrontation with Europe's champion will be a major conflict for Bayern, the Bavarians may stand up, having the capacity to win the Champions League. And why not this year?
