Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund - A tactical analysis

Before like 10 months ago, none of the footballing fans in the world would have betted on an all German finals at the wembley. Most of us would have envisioned atleast the likes of Barca and Real to be at the finals. Well yes, being a little liberal, Bayern playing at the finals would have seemed reasonable but Dortmund? Who would have thought the black yellows to be there?

Bayern Munich: The undisputed pride of german football seeking for the legendary treble this season!

A top quality side with a starting lineup any team would fear to face at their peak. The likes of Bastian, Lahm, Ribery and Neuer and the rest of the Die Roten would be itching their hands to grab that once in a lifetime trophy and guess its high time their quality and loyalty deserves a accolade, the best one at that!

Strengths
One of the best full back- attacking flank coordination in the world currently. Lahm/ Muller and Lahm / Robben duo are a lethal threat even to the best of the defenders. Robben at his peak is a beas. I mean the defenders clearly know what he is gonna do and so do the viewers, but then he simply seems unstoppable once he gets into the mood. I would not be surprised if I see a link up play with Lahm with Robben cutting in from the right, going for the angled left footed curled shot on the right top corner of the goal! With Toni Kroos still a doubt, Robben starting is highly likely and if so, this duo is something that might pull off a stunning show!

And oh! Lahm is the best Right back in the world. Period! Defensively he is one of the most patient tacklers of the dead ball and one of the best readers of wing play! As an attacker, his crosses, long range through balls and link-ups have been clearly proved all through his german national team and Bayern career! The closest any other duo would come would be likes of Coentrao/ CR7 and Alves/Messi.

Mario Mandzukic the machine in the form of a No.9 will be a dominant force near the D, winning the one-on-one aerial balls and feeding the every hungry Muller and Robben. Highly effective in set pieces and known for his clinical finishing, leaving him unmarked will easily fuel the ship that would take the European glory away from the Schwarzgelbens. 

Frank Ribery, my star pick of the German reds! Well, his creativity and close control is world class  comparable to the likes of Iniesta with a wider range of crossing, tackling and aggressive abilities. He will be the game changer at Wembley! And for me at the end of the year he will definitely figure in the Ballon D’or top 3 nominees!

The core of Bayern’s gameplay-The Bastian-Martinez combination in the deep lying midfielder positions in the 4-2-3-1 would allow enough cushion for Robben, Ribery to launch their attacks from the wings.

Lot was said about how much of an impact Martinez would have in the current Bayern squad after they triggered his buyout clause from Bielsa’s young Bilbao side. Guess he took the way of proving it on the field rather than through the media or the press. Martinez is typical no.8 and his strength, tackling skills and marking abilities will prove to be crucial in the match.

Schweinsteiger, you beauty! One of the best CDMs in the world currently. A fighter by nature, he is the one Bayern would be looking upto if they start to trail against Borussia. From deep in the defense, he is the one who can orchestrate a whole move and can feed those critical crosses and through balls. You can see him play CB, RWB, CDM, CAM and even on the right flank popping his head out to spot Mandzukic, Muller or Ribery. 

Weakness

Lack of a class No.10 CAM in the box. The availability and fitness of Kroos being a doubt will be a concern for Bayern because now Ribery will have to keep switching with Muller, both of them playing a more central role. Well a clear reason for the Gotze signing for the next season!

Centre backs: One area where Bayern are yet to attain a perfect combination. Heynckes would have to choose amongst the likes of Boateng, Van Buyten and Dante. Boateng should be starting alongside either Van Buyten/Dante. Though aerially very strong, they seem to be a little susceptible on counters on the ground especially seen against their UCL performance against Arsenal. Dortmund should be aiming to freeing Lewandowski and capitalizing on his clinical first touches and finishing skills. I like the way Dante positions himself and am a fan of his aerial supremacy. I bet on him to start but if there is an area where Bayern would want to focus, it would be the department of CBs. But if the CBs are spot on to read the Dortmund counters and ground balls which both Boateng and Dante are capable of, it should be a clean sheet!

Bench

The Bayern bench is full of quality. Robben’s form being vulnerable gives Heynckes good options in Shaqiri. Similarly their yesteryear hero Mario Gomez, who seems not to figure in Pep’s next year team at Bayern would also be itching his legs for playing time at Wembley. He could be the one who might pull off a late 15min magic if needed and this would help him make a statement to Guardiola next year.

Coach

Heynckes the 67 year old veteran. He has been a silent figure in the world of managers and has been one who believed in dreams comig true. This Bayern side is his baby and he should be undoubtedly the most deserving one to hold that trophy at Wembley.

Heynckes the patient tactician is one of the most underestimated managers around. A striker by himself, he has had experience with managing clubs across Spain, Portugal and Germany. His stint at Borussia Monchengladbach  scoring 218 goals is particularly notable where he continued to reign as a manager in the future. As a manager, Heynckes’ first major achievement was aiding Real Madrid grab the Champions League trophy after a 30 years gap. At Bayern, he has built a team that should uphold the flag of german domination for years to come. His tactical buys of Martinez, Dante, the way he has encouraged talents of the like of Alaba, Muller and Shaqiri and the way he has moulded Madzukic into a classic No.9 stands testimony to his futuristic vision. Managing a team with one of the most balanced sides wrt age and experience is indeed an achievement. Ribery is 30 and Muller is 21. Both of them play a critical role in the team. This is what he believes the most in a team, the right balance and he is almost there with one of the greatest achievement in the world of club football- The Treble!

Formation

This is what I think will be the squad Heynckes should start under unusal conditions. Typical 4-2-3-1 euroepan formation . Tactically he would want the following:

1. Ribery playing a more central role and Alaba compensating for the width down the left flank
2. Robben playing as wide as possible with Schweinsteiger providing cover in the right midfield. Lahm overlapping runs through the sides and moving central with Schweinsteiger moving back then
3. Muller playing a striker’s role and often moving ahead of Mandzukic in the attack
4. Mandzukic playing as a typical No.9 winning aerial balls and disturbing the back 4 of Dortmund and feeding the balls on to his right for Robben and Muller
5. Martinez and Bastian combining defensively, with Martinez playingbit deeper allowing Schweinsteiger to move up during attacks
6. Van Buyten playing last man shielding Neuer and Dante darting in for attacks
7. Corners and set pieces: Dante, Van Buyten, Martinez and Mandzkuic moving in for the headers with Schweinsteiger/Ribery mostly on the dead ball.

Borussia Dortmund - The stereotypical poor man’s club which believes in a way of football!

The yellow lilliputians as I would call them, they have come a long way to reach where they are currently. Being an arsenal fan, I can only keep admiring th way the team has managed itself fighting through tough times, with grave financial constraints and players bleeding away to seek money and glamour every damn year! Wouldn’t it be lovely for the current players to laugh at the ones who flee away from them once they secure European Glory. It would be an ROFL moment.

Strengths

 The Pole: Critics label tag him as the best striker around currently. 4 goals against Real Madrid in a UCL semifinals, damn it, is an achievement. Well for me he belongs to the ancient class of strikers, the likes of Bergkamp, Owen and Raul. The soft first touches, smart positioning, timely sprints and clinical finishing are characteristics of all these players. This is quite in contrast to the typical lone striker we find in Europe, the likes of Falcao, Benzema, Mandzukic, Zlatan and Torres. Lewandowksi, has time and again proven that he is a match winner. Winning it against Barcelona was the latest feat and Bayern’s top priority will be to mute him which is going to be a tough asking! 

Back 4!:

Hummels would clearly be sought after by any of the big clubs currently if he is in the market. He is one of those defenders who likes to launch forward in for attacks and is very good at set pieces and feeding crucial long range passes. I think he can be tagged along with Thiago Silva to form the lethal CB combo any club would want to have! Plus his loyalty and attitude towards the club makes me a great fan of his. He starting for Dortmund at Wembley will be a match decider.

Subotic is the ideal match for the German combatant. Tall, aerially supreme and very critical in set pieces. Both of them have been a set combination for Klopp to safeguard his net

Piszczek is there in the league of the best full backs playing currently. He is defensively spot on and also transforms into a winger supporting his polish compatriot Blaszczykowski in the right flank

Schmelzer has moulded himself into a LB for Germany through  his days at Dortmund and I think that summarises his skills as a typical LB good at launching swift runs and also performing his defensive job with utmost attention.

So yes, the back 4 of Dortmund is probably the best in Europe. Well coordinated and organized, they are difficult to tumble down when at their peak and Wembley will demand them to play yhe game of their life.

Ilkay GUndogan, a fighter, a genius and a gem of an orchestrator. He reminds me of Scholesy in one way! Those defense splitting passes, long ranges and timely tackles. He along with Bender will be the reply to the Bastian-Martinez problem Bayern poses.

Marco Reus, a talented player in the form of a winger, center forward and a creative midfielder. HE is quick, skillful, creative and highly reactive to situations. The absence of Gotze would demand him to play a more central role and if I were to bet it would be him to be the game changer for Dortmund.  

Weakness

Lack of big game players and experience

The Dortmund team that goes to wembley will be noted for it’s inexperience in big matches. None of them in the entire squad have ever really played a game with such magnanimity and energy. Tough calling which Im sure Klopp would be urging the young warriors in the likes of Hummels, Gundogan and Reus to step upto!

 Mario Gotzes absence: $37m and there goes another Dortmund gem moving to his arch rivals the spendthrift Bayern. The Deco-goat head incident when he switched allegiance from Barca to Real, the RVP transfer saga all take a setback given the way the whose Gotze transfer dramatically falls in place. Imagine, the No.10 of a club moving to their arch rivals and he playing his last match at the biggest stage in Europe against his future club. I don’t think it can get any more dramatic. Had it been in England, we would have all felt for it, but German football not very familiar to us makes us probably not understand the magnanimity of the situation. But all this said, the German star-rated midfielder will be out for the clash and tactically it is another setback that Klopp will have to solve through his options including Gundogan and Reus.

Hummel’s injury might then demand the late minute goal scorer against Malaga: Santana. But personally Hummels not playing will be a major setback to the defensive department. Nevertheless Klopp would be hoping Santana plays the match of his life if it were to happen so.

Bench

Dortmund bench though not as deep as Bayern on paper, is a very youthful and energetic bunch of lads. The
likes of Sahin and Kehl can provide enough reinforcement in the midfield. Santana the late-minute Malaga goal hero is another example of youthfulness that exemplies Dortmund’s footballing philosophy.

Coach

Klopp is the undoubted man of the tournament! Who would have thought that Dortmund would reach so far in the Champions league but for him. He is an example that can be portrayed to younger generations as “Hey here is a man who reinforced the definition of loyalty in current day football, here is a man who stood by the club during sad times, shedded tears, when the club got relegated and when his babies parted him and here is a man who despite what happened around him continued to relentlessly strive for success”. He is the most resourceful manager around and I can go ahead and compare him to the likes of Arsene Wenger in his old days, both of them though different in their own ways had one thing in common, the belief and motivation in their team, failing to succumb to whatever happened around them! Klopp’s philosophy is quick energetic passing football in the attack and the typical zonal marking in defense. He has been optimally leveraging the skills of his players to build a team. Last year Dortmund utilized Kagawa, this year it has been Gotze and in the finals he would be expecting the likes of Reus to step up to play the arch-typical pivot of his team. I believe Dortmund’s focus will be on counter attacks and Klopp’s strategy would be revolved around this key theme at Wembley. Finally, it would be awesome to see Klopp have the last laugh at players who already left his club and the ones leaving in the coming window, with European glory secured in his trophy cabinet!

Formation

1. Reus playing a central midfield role playing in the box primarily
2. Lewandowski playing totally up front seeking the crosses and the through balls waiting for the one-touch-go shots
3. Gundagon playing an orchestrator’s role initiating attacks and playing deep when required.
4. I’m rooting for Bender to start ahead of Kehl given his pace and better defensive abilities. Bender will be assigned the job of keeping a check on the dangerous Lahm-Robben-Bastian moves in the right flank
5. Blaszczykowski and Großkreutz are energetic, hard working lads who will be the prime counter attack targets for Dortmund
6. The prime aim would be to keep the defense tight against the world class attacking force of Bayern. Klopp would want the WBs, CBs and CDMs to be on their toe so as to win at Wembley.
7. Corners and set pieces: Hummels, Subotic, Piszczek and Pole in the box with Reus / Gundogan on the dead balls

My judgment

After having lashed at the domination of Spanish football, proving the theory of victories in club football being a cyclic process, I am totally happy if any of these sides claim the trophy. I shall watch the match unbiased having seen what I wanted to happen already happen. Eventhough my heart is with Dortmund, logically I think it is going to be Bayern all the way at Wembley. Obviously a lot of factors go into deciding who will emerge successful at Wembley. I think the game would be fought out in the midfield with lesser happenings in the flanks.

I am going for a victory for Bayern after considering the following factors:

1. The dream run and the current momentum of Bayern
2. A fully fit and motivated squad compared to a handicapped Dortmund side with the absence of Gotze and even Hummels for that matter
3. Football greats and experience on one side in contrast to a no big-game experience and young Dortmund squad
4. The Treble in Bayern’s mind and with Heynckes leaving soon adding fuel to fire
5. World class attacking lineup with dangerous and lethal attacking options
6. Better midifled setup for Bayern with Bastian and Javi expecting to win over Gundogan and Kehl/Bender
7. Defensively though not as good as Dortmund, Bayern should be successful in muting the likes of Pole and Reus                        

Predicted Score line:

Half time: 1-0 Bayern leading at half time

Full time: 3-1 Die Roten brigning back European glory to the german land of Munich!

(Bayern Munich) 3 – 1 (Borussia Dortmund)

The scoreline and the prediction is an end result of the above logic and majorly a gut-feel driven estimate. I can only end with the clichéd statement: “ Football! Bloody hell”

But bottomline, no matter who wins at Wembley , there shall be one unanimous winner and that’s gonna be the rejuvenated soul of German football !!

A question of your identity

Being in Mumbai, in fact in office on Sunday (18/11/2012), when the whole of Mumbai was frozen following the demise of BST, I was amazed at two key aspects pertaining to the frugality of human thoughts and rational.

1.       How could an individual be shaped by his peers and society to follow an ideology which purely had an emotional implication, deprived of any logic.

2.       How could a self-centered soul seek, create and reinforce one’s undefined identity by reiterating a stand that was driven by sheer pride, prejudice and narcissism

Bal Thackeray, the roaring lion of the most endearing Aamchi Mumbai is clearly whom I’m referring to. I am not being plain judgmental about a person who has burned down shops of non-marathi citizens who were struggling to meet their ends in the city of trade. I also realise the other side of the coin depicted a regionalist hero who worked for his state. But lets look at it logically, India a sovereign, socialist, secular democratic and republic union, an amalgamation of polarsied cultures was defined on the sheer base that there had to be co-existence. One who questions that, I simply fail to understand, tagging him in a bucket of national heros who deserve a stae-wide bandh or a freaking holiday!

From what I have understood, he was a hypocrite with a xenophobic ideology. Period. None of his ventures could be listed as marvels towards social development. It becomes even more important to see how he shifted his target pool from a Marathi base to that of a Hindu nationalist one, thereby entering into national politics. I can draw comparisions of him with those of Hitler, Musolini or Stalin, but then I realize that we for a reason live in a democracy! Puppets, without an identity all of us are in some way or the other succumbing to lack of logic only to establish an identity for ourselves. For a fact, you and I are as well.