Bayern and Germany lost out on a lot of major trophies by adopting the tikataka style of football. Bayern still might not win the CL this year and they might even lose to a Guardiola managed team, but hiring him was a big mistake. The intensity and the more direct style of play is what suits these players best.
Tiki taka in Guardiola's first year at Barca was magical! I think it must have been a magic mix of rebounding from a bad period, the emergence of messi-xavi-iniesta, remnants of Rijkards beautiful football style and crucially Guardiola's discipline. I think it quickly devolved into boring football, however. But that first Guardiola year is unforgettable/unmatched IMO. I say long live beautiful football, in whatever form and shape it comes!
The English pundits were (half) right. ManCity won't play like Barca against Bayern. They'll also not exploit the space offered by Bayern's pressing. Kind of funny that it's between France and Germany now.
Bayern not doing everything possible to get Heynckes to conitue and instead hiring Pep was one of the stupidest decisions in football. I have said it before, but had they not done that they would have won at least 2 more CL titles. Pep just over complicates things in Europe and comes up with stupid tactics in the big games. However, the board should be looking at this and realise just how badly we flopped. We have a better team than City.
Heynckes would have continued, I'm almost sure it was Bayern's decision not to extend the contract. I know that Beckenbauer back then didn't speak officially for the club anymore and that Bayern's management would have never expressed it like this but adding insult to injury to a gentleman like Heynckes, Beckenbauer said that you just had to get a coach like Pep if he's available. That was just disrespectful. Even Matthäus pretty much just said the same thing. He named the contrast to Bayern: Letting players play where they are comfortable every game for months instead of constant changes. I thought the same about Tuchel at times that some coaches believe they have to outsmart the opponent all by themselves in contrast to using the strengths of the available players.
Yes I believe this was the case as well. I 100% agree with this and it's why Tuchel had to go for me as well. Pep and Tuchel (not sure how Tuchel is now), but these managers care too much about being the star and showing the world how smart they are. It's like they cannot help but want the win, to be attributed to them by an amazing tactical/formational change than the players.
Yeah, that was my attempt of a joke. Too many experts acted as if ManCity was already in the semis totally neglecting that there was still a game to play.
I feel like we are fortunate to not have to play CITEH. The media distraction and his familiarity with the team is one of those intangibles that I’m glad we don’t have to worry about.
Well you were right, they won't beat City in the semi-finals ;-) Also, you may be over estimating Pep just a tad bit...
Well, everybody can make mistakes. Now I hope Leipzig beat PSG, and we’ll have all German final. Unless Lyon surprises us once more ...
PSG were too good for Leipzig. The Leipzig team just lacks quality especially without Werner. I would take the Leverkusen and Gladbach squads over them. It's a great achievement from Nagelsmann. Neymar was quality. He was a level above everyone on the pitch, though he greedily tried to steal the third goal. A very good achievement from Leipzig though.
In light of what RB Leipzig accomplished under Nagelsmann I wish I could personally point it out to Watzke and ask him: What's your fvcking excuse?
I'd say the likes of Neymar and Mbappe have to like the kind of space and opportunities offered by Bayern at times. They are vulnerable in defense. With Davies, you'd think he'll eventually make a crucial mistake due to his age and aggressive style but he can repair so much with his pace. Süle/Boateng and Alaba also don't look like the most solid CB duo.
After the game yesterday, continuing from the studio, there came a tweet that said the entire starting 11 costed Bayern £ 80m. That is, I have to say, good business model. Don’t know how they achieved that, once everybody had to start from scratch, but in the last 15-20 years they must have worked hard to come in this position. On transfer marked we can’t compete with them, the only good thing that could happen to us would be winning or come far in the CL 2-3 times, to gain some economic power .,, but that can never happen with Favre
True, they did something right over decades as the basis but they also had helpful circumstances. A fantastic generation when they entered the league, they got a stadium at a time when ticket income was way more important and they got a stranglehold over a region that became very prosperous with major industrial players investing in them. And they certainly built from their position of power. Not that it's very relevant but Perisic is on loan + Lewa and Goretzka joined on free transfers. You cannot fault them for that but that is why these number games can be deceiving. They deserve credit for getting players like Gnabry, Davies and Kimmich early and cheap but the number looks a bit different when you also consider who came in and who was on the bench. Hernandez, Coman and Tolisso cost around 140 million €.
I agree they often recruit well, but the 80m thing is misleading given their bench v Lyon cost.258m. Much like BVB, in the last few years they have also wasted a fair amount/overpaid, especially on French signings plus Renato Sanches who was a spectacular flop.. Where they have had a lot of success is when they have brought in younger/cheaper players who have developed into world class performers, and then, unlike Dortmund, are able to keep them during their prime.,
Sure, Renato Sanches was a huge flop, but so was Götze (both for us and for them, though more for us), Schürle, Toprak, Sahin and many others. About developing talents, I still think we gave up too soon on Isak and Gomez, even if they were not as big as Davies and Kimmich
According to figures released by Kicker today, Bayern will break the CL earning record set by barcelona in 2019 (119M) where they are due to make 123M guaranteed. This figure will jump to 130M if they beat PSG in the final. This just increases the distance to BVB even more.