Bayern Munich [R]

[BrianCappellieri]

Dominant Bayern make flying start

FC Bayern München will be able to approach the second leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round meeting with FK Partizan in relaxed mood after a 3-0 victory in Belgrade tonight...
UEFA (http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/News/Kind=128/newsId=30169.html)
http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Photo/competitions/UCL/30201_351X180.jpg

[Texan]

What position was Ze Roberto expected to play for Bayern? I thought he was a winger, but in the Partizan match report on the Bayern website they mention that he was paired with Elber up front in the M'gladbach match. He also came in for Elber in the Partizan match.

[olafgb]

Originally posted by Texan
What position was Ze Roberto expected to play for Bayern? I thought he was a winger, but in the Partizan match report on the Bayern website they mention that he was paired with Elber up front in the M'gladbach match. He also came in for Elber in the Partizan match.

Ze Roberto played left wing vs M'gladbach. Yesterday he played rather central midfield when he came in (and he didn't look too happy on the bench before...), Pizarro moved to center when Elber was substituted.

The headline "Dominant Bayern" is wondering me a little. It was a typical old time Bayern style: Low level, high victory.

[BrianCappellieri]

The UEFA site usually has some odd headlines.

For example, they had a really bad pun for the Barça-Legia match, "Barça and Legia Poles Apart."

[BrianCappellieri]

Bayern back in business

Bayern Munich , the 2001 European champions, are on course for the first group stage after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Partizan Belgrade in the Serbian capital last night...
The Guardian (http://football.guardian.co.uk/Champions_League/Story/0,5764,774844,00.html)
*Article contains other CL qualifying results*

Bayern build up ominous advantage

Bayern Munich took a huge step toward the lucrative group stages of the Champions' League last night by trouncing Partizan Belgrade 3-0 last night in their third qualifying round, first-leg match in Yugoslavia...
Independent Sport (http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/european/story.jsp?story=324519)

[BrianCappellieri]

European Round-up: Elber puts Bayern on course

Bayern Munich, desperate to bounce back after ending last season without any silverware for the first time since 1995, put their German league title chase on track with Giovane Elber scoring four times in the 6-2 hammering of Arminia Bielefeld...
The Telegraph (http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2002/08/19/sfneur19.xml&sSheet=/sport/2002/08/19/ixfooty.html)

Four-goal Elber greases Bayern's wheels

Bayern Munich, bidding for their fourth Bundesliga title in five seasons, raced to their first win of the new campaign in style, four goals from Brazilian Giovane Elber helping them to a 6-2 win over Arminia Bielefeld...
World Soccer News (http://www.wldcup.com/news/2002Aug/20020817_14685_world_soccer.html)

Kahn Pulls Out Of Germany Friendly

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has pulled out of Germany's friendly with Bulgaria on Wednesday because of a knee injury...
SoccerAge (http://www.soccerage.com/en/13/g5934.html)

[Juergen]

Originally posted by Erfolgsfan
Uli will never do anything for German Football only for ************ing Bayern. He says Bayern has no time to train germann youngsters but for Santa Cruz they have the time an the Money !

That's wrong. Uli is doing a lot for other clubs. Without Bayern Hertha would propably be still in 2nd division, TSV 1860 would still in 3rd division and frankfurt wouldn't have a license for 2nd division. These are examples where Bayern Munich helped other clubs with friendly matches or direct financial support.

[BrianCappellieri]

SoccerNet (http://www.soccernet.com/europe/news/2002/0824/20020824gerreports.html)Bayern third after easy victory

Bayern Munich destroyed Hamburg SV 3-0 on Saturday to pick up their second easy win in two weeks and move into third place in the Bundesliga while promoted VfL Bochum extended their unbeaten run to stay top.

[Ethel The Frog]

Bayern got a good draw in the Champion's League. They are in a group with AC Milan, Deportivo La Coruna and Lens. I expect they will make it through.

[wolfsburgh]

I think Bayern got a tough draw; I think this might be the toughest group. Deportivo is a very good team, and AC Milan might not be as good as the they were in the early to mid-90s, but they are still a good team (and plus, things have been bad for Italian soccer lately in the CL; one would think the law of averages would dictate a good run by Italian teams this year). And I don't know much about Lens, but invariably a French team or two pulls a surprise at this stage of the CL. While Bayern is likely the favorite in the group, it would not shock me if they did not advance.

[Syncope]

AC Milan, a very good team, and have been made better with the arrival of Rivaldo. They certainly were Pot-A caliber.

La Coruna has been equal to or better than Madrid in the Spanish league over the past few years, beat them in the Cup, and recently beat Valencia in the Super Cup. Diego Tristan has a fantastic bag of tricks to unleash on any defense, and he's my favorite Spanish striker.

Lens was the Cindarella team of the French league a few years ago when they unexpectedly became champions. The team broke apart, as their best players were lured away by top European teams (much like Leverkusen). The fact that they made second again in the league, losing the championship only on the last day of play, is testament to their strength and fighting spirit (much like Leverkusen).

No one underestimates Milan and La Coruna, and Bayern always has a tough time against French teams, especially one as determined as Lens.

[IASocFan]

G is the closest to the group of death. They have:
Bayern - 2nd seed
Deportivo - 9th seed
Milan - 17 seed
Lens - 26 seed.

Total = 54
Next toughest group is H with a total of 65.

[Syncope]

Milan has added Alessandro Nesta (31 million Euros) to its star-studded squad. Another meaningful addition after adding Rivaldo (free transfer, stupid Barca) and Jon Dahl Tomasson (free transfer) this summer. Tough CL matchup ahead.

And while Munich has spent "only" 24 million Euros on its three new players (Ze Roberto, Ballack, Deisler), AC Milan seems to have done better as their players are fit. Personally, I doubt Deisler will ever play for more than three months with out seriously re-injuing himself again--one more injury and its over.

[BrianCappellieri]

SoccerAge (http://www.soccerage.com/en/13/g9532.html)Bayern Looking To Extend Hargreaves Contract

England international Owen Hargreaves and his club Bayern Munich are having talks about a new long-term contract for the defensive midfielder. Both sides are said to have almost agreed a deal.

[BrianCappellieri]

Ananova (http://www.ananova.com/sport/soccer/story/sm_662584.html?menu=sport.football)Hargreaves to sign new Bayern deal

Bayern's vice-president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Kicker magazine: "We know that he is an extraordinary player and we want him to stay longer at Bayern Munich."

Hargreaves said: "I think my future is in Munich. Although I'm proud that there were some Premier League clubs interested."

[BhoysFC1995]

http://www.soccernet.com/europe/news/2002/0831/20020831klose.html

BERLIN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Germany striker Miroslav Klose denied on Saturday a newspaper report saying he had agreed to join Bayern Munich.



i figured by the title, they were talking about 1860 (kidding, unfortunately).

[Jawz10]

Originally posted by Syncope
Milan has added Alessandro Nesta (31 million Euros) to its star-studded squad. Another meaningful addition after adding Rivaldo (free transfer, stupid Barca) and Jon Dahl Tomasson (free transfer) this summer. Tough CL matchup ahead.

And while Munich has spent "only" 24 million Euros on its three new players (Ze Roberto, Ballack, Deisler), AC Milan seems to have done better as their players are fit. Personally, I doubt Deisler will ever play for more than three months with out seriously re-injuing himself again--one more injury and its over. How do Bayern play this season? Formation? Starters? Mentality?

Ac Milan play a flat back 4-4-2. The midfield is a diamond with a playmaker sitting in front of the defence (a new tactic that has worked fairly well). Pirlo isn't a ball winner, not in the least, but actually a trequarista that plays just behind the fowards. Thats the key to the new lineup, it allows for TONs of possession in the midfield as well as through balls coming from all parts of the field.

---------Rui Costa/Rivaldo
Seedorf-------------------Gattuso/Brocchi
-------------Pirlo

Shevchenko may miss the match vs Munich because of a knee injury. Rui Costa is in devastating form already, as is Pirlo.

With the arrival of Nesta, Milan could play three at the back which would allow them to push another player into the midfield. Thats what other teams should be wary of as Rui Costa and Rivaldo could play at the same time. Milan's midfield was impressive in the away leg versus Liberec. Much improved over last year.

ESPN2 will definately show the match here in the US. I'm very excited, as you can see :).

[Syncope]

Originally posted by Jawz10
How do Bayern play this season? Formation? Starters? Mentality?The possible variants are too numerous as the team is very deep. Hitzfeld probably has a favorite starting Eleven, but that would be entirely without consideration for the opponent. He likes a back-four because defense wins games (or at least doesn’t lose it). Most likely you'll see a 4-4-2, which will be based on who's fit, and how strong the opponent is. Guaranteed starters in any formation would probably be Kahn, Lizarazu, Salihamidzic, and Elber. Everyone else on the team has a "double": Scholl-Ze Roberto; Jeremies-Hargreaves; Ballack-Deisler (out injured); Pizarro-Santa Cruz (out injured); Sagnol-R. Kovac-Kuffour.


Goal:
Kahn.


Defense:
Bayern has a defense that plays as a strong collective, rather than one (or two) stand-out man-markers. Some consider it as strong as any other part of the team, I, however consider it its weakest (although not weak) point. Bayern only has five defenders: Linke, Sagnol, Lizarazu, Kuffour, and R. Kovac. Five players for a back-four, for a season that could go to 70 games are not enough. Players that fill gaps include Hargreaves, Tarnat, and potentially Jeremies. What Bayern really needs is an additional world-class defender. Nothing much has been done to truly bolster the defense since Babbel or Andersson have left. Anderson may have been slow, but he was a rock. That said, it's not like the defense sucks (having allowed the fewest goals in the BL last season), it's just not as versatile as it should be.


Midfield:
Bayern's crown jewel, allowing complete modularity of the team without sacrificing competency: 4-4-2, 3-5-2, and 4-3-3 (not sure this will happen but it's possible; 3-4-3 will probably never happen). Bayern’s defensive mid consists of: Jeremies, Hargreaves, N. Kovac, Tarnat and Fink. Offensive mids are: Ballack, Ze Roberto, Scholl, Salihamidzic, and Deisler. This is one of the best and versatile midfields in Europe, equaled only by Real Madrid and Manchester United—well, should Deisler ever come back from injury and actually stay healthy (I’m not betting on it). Up-and-coming Feulner rounds out this impressive roster. You could blindly pick any four players and come up with something great. The quality and quantity allows the team to continually rotate and rest players without sacrificing quality in any of the contests (BL, Cup, and CL). The one player that Bayern doesn’t have a good substitute for in Salihamidzic, and it showed last season when he was out with a torn ACL (I think that was the injury). I think Feulner should grow into this role.

Just for fun: This is a 4-3-3 I would love to see. I’m not certain this realistic, but it’s nice to look at. It's basically a 4-0-6:

Sagnol – Kuffour- Kovac – Lizarazu
Deisler – Ballack – Ze Roberto
Salihamidzic – Elber – Scholl


Offense:
Nothing much to say, it’s pretty self-explanatory. There is a definite pecking order in the attack: (1) Elber has proved himself in Europe and the BL, not much more needs to be said. (2) Pizarro is the most prolific scorer per minutes played. (3) Santa Cruz should [hopefully] develop into a top-class striker; he’s well on his way. (4) Zickler…he’s fast, but not very skilled, actually.


Notes:
Bayern is the “cheapest” of all European top-flight teams. The most expensive signing ever is Ze Roberto at €9.5 million. Considering this, it’s near magical that it can compete with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, and other top spenders (check out my spending thread, http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9271, where you will see that even mediocre teams have outspent Bayern by vast amounts). In Germany Bayern is known as the big spender (actually, Dortmund have out-spent them over the past few seasons). But on a European level they’re just dwarfs—I’m actually quite proud of this.

What’s next? I think Bayern needs to get an amazing defender to upgrade the quantity of their defenders, and make it possible to sustain a long season. After that, either another right winger (for Salihamidzic), or striker (for Elber). Bayern is following Madrid’s example (within reason) of looking to sign only world-class players, although they’ll never spend as much, or to promote from with in. Luckily, they have three great talents maturing in the Amateurs right now: Philipp Lahm (defense), Peter Trochowski (mid), and Feulner (mid).

[BrianCappellieri]

SoccerAge (http://www.soccerage.com/en/13/h0636.html)Rummenigge: Bayern Don't Fear Real

Bayern Munich's Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says that the club doesn't fear rivals Real Madrid more than before despite the signing of Brazilian striker Ronaldo.

"Only when they sign an outstanding goalkeeper or a great defender will they become more dangerous. Until they do they are still beatable," he said.

[BrianCappellieri]

Sporting Life (http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/germany/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/02/09/15/SOCCER_Ger-Bayern_Munich_Ballack.html&TEAMHD=germany)BALLACK DOUBT FOR BAYERN

Michael Ballack is a doubt for Bayern Munich's Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruna.

The 2001 European champions were dealt the bad news when their goalscoring midfielder had to miss training ahead of Wednesday's game.