Bundesliga 13/14

The first half in the cup game on Monday looked something like:

Robben --- Mandzukic --- Müller
--------Kroos --- Shaqiri
---------Schweinsteiger

Wouldn't rule it out, that we see something similar today, with Kroos and Ribery in the middle and Robben again starting on the left.
 
line up Bayern:
Neuer - Alaba, Dante, Boateng, Lahm - Schweinsteiger, Robben, Ribéry, Kroos, Müller - Mandzukic
Peps Giant changes to the team are starting to show lol..

Well at least the local press and the countless tv experts had something to babble about during the summer break.

The way I see it: last year, there were 2 players in def. midfield, one with the "destroyer" task, the other one with more liberty to roam. Under Pep, the latter is now a part of a second row of attack minded midfielders, clearly with the task to move back when possession is lost. Not exactly the revolution we were told that was going to happen.
 
It's not a revolution at all, it's basically what van Gaal played in 10/11. Injuries, his stubbornness to buy important players, the whole goalkeeper drama and his fight with Hoeness lead to that huge collapse, but so far, we've just seen a mix between van Gaal's ideas regarding formations and Heynckes' ideas regarding pressing and fluidity. It's crazy how many different styles that Bayern team has learned and played over the last 5 seasons. Hopefully Pep continues to use that versatility.
 
Gladbach:
ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Daems - Xhaka, Kramer - Herrmann, Raffael, Arango - Kruse

They really are an exciting team, imo.
 
line up Bayern:
Neuer - Alaba, Dante, Boateng, Lahm - Schweinsteiger, Robben, Ribéry, Kroos, Müller - Mandzukic
Did alright, didn't it? 10 out of 11.

Mönchengladbach:
ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzk, Álvaro, Daems - Kramer, Xhaka - Herrmann, Arango, Raffael - Kruse
 
What happened to Werder Bremen over the past few years? I remember they used to play in Europe regularly, back when Frings played for them.
Some really shit transfers, spend maybe too much money on modifications of the stadium from 08-10 and they were never really a big club if we compare commercial revenue. They were highly dependent on CL money to finance the squad. With only 3 CL spots in the league and Schalke, Dortmund and Leverkusen again fulfilling their potential, they were out. Trying to keep the squad competitive cost them a lot, imo. They missed the right moment to rebuild and therefore are really struggling right now and I doubt it'll change this season. Hopefully they won't go down this season.
 
Bremen were a brilliant side to watch, albeit horrific defensively most of the time. Diego was fecking fantastic:drool:
 
The team around Micoud and Ailton was brilliant as well, won the domestic double in 2004.
 
What happened to Werder Bremen over the past few years? I remember they used to play in Europe regularly, back when Frings played for them.

It's pretty much down to two factors:
a)Their financial growth could not keep up with their success on the pitch so they were forced to take some risks at the transfer market.
b)Thomas Schaaf wasn't able to find a successful defensive approach.

They always relied on their very strong offense to compensate for their leaky defense. However as they eventually made some bad transfers (Carlos Alberto was one of the biggest flops in the league's history, Arnautovic is talented but seems to really lack in the mentality department, Elia is the same as Arnautovic but worse in every aspect), their offensive became rather mediocre and their defensive problems really kicked in and began to cost them more and more points. Because they never had the financial basis of a top club and because some of their players still had wages from the CL days it took them only a few seasons to become a true midtable club with a horrible defense.
 
Bayern have been pretty sloppy so far but a stroke of genius lets them go 1-0 up.
 
I actually love that we're still a bit sloppy, try to mix it up, use width, flanks, play a few long balls. There's clearly a focus on possession, but we try to use everything to create chances and don't focus solely on short passing through the center.

2-0 :)
 
Nothing to see here, Bayern carrying on from where they left off. Clever tactic for the free kick.
 
Well, that seems like Game over for me. Really questionable defending by Gladbach against Bayern, which are not even going full strength until now.

It also becomes appearent for me that the hype train around ter Stegen started a bit too soon and also a bit too strong.
 
Great to have proper football back

Surprising number of long balls from Bayern so far but crisp passing, fantastic wingplay. Would love to see us play like this.
 
It's amusing how effortless Bayern are when in possession/attacking.
 
Genuine question to the Bayern fans on here: Is there some kind of protest by the Bayern support or why is it so quiet in the stadium? I only hear the Gladbach fans.
 
Arango and Herrmann causing Bayern lots of trouble on the counter. Quite an open game still and both keepers have made some excellent saves. Bayern could use Javi Martínez' presence in midfield IMO.
 
Bayern starting where they left off last season.

Offensively yeah, but they look way more vulnerable in the defense than last season. The full backs are way too up front and the center backs have some rare lapses in their concentration. They give Gladbach some chances but look like they could always go the extra mile if they wanted to.
 
colleagues are at the game , would love to see bayern get twattered so i can make fun of them on monday
 
Does Pep want to confuse all the other managers? Kirchhoff for Schweinsteiger and Rafinha for Müller are substitutions I never ever would have imagined in this game.
 
:lol: how dodgy was that.

First penalty was a clear one, but the second looked pretty soft to me. It hit Dominguez´ upper arm from short distance and he did not really stretch out his limb.

Overall a game of giving out gifts. Highly entertaining, but aside from some nice individual scenes (Ribery, Raffael) it was not on such a high level. It certainly does not install huge fear into me. Last season, in most of their games Bayern had an aura about them, that they could not lose no matter what the opponent tried. I´m not feeling that aura now. Gladbach could have gotten something out of this games, if they would have executed their chances sharper and cleaner.
 
Well, we've won against Gladbach, that's a pretty good start to the season. Really disappointing defensive display though, we have no clue how to defend against simple counterattacks.
 
Well, we've won against Gladbach, that's a pretty good start to the season. Really disappointing defensive display though, we have no clue how to defend against simple counterattacks.

Well, your side will get enough practise vs. that kind of play in the next few league matches vs. Frankfurt and Freiburg. I agree about the defensive. Guardiola´s system with just one CM and very high up FB simply sacrafices some defensive stability and makes them vulnerable vs. fast counter play.