| 29.10.2009 |
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| I’m confused. Very, very confused. Last Saturday, Bayern barely scrape out three points at home against Frankfurt thanks to a goal that probably should have been disallowed and a hail-mary substitution that saw defender Daniel van Buyten pushed up front in the dying seconds. All of Bayern’s flaws were on display, including a lack of midfield creativity and disorientation in front of the opponents’ goal. Then yesterday, in German Cup, the Bavarian juggernaut takes on the exact same team in Frankfurt, and what do they do? Play the best football I’ve seen from them in almost two years. Braafheid had Frankfurt’s defense reeling from the opening whistle, Van Bommel discovered a heretofore unknown talent for deadly opening passes, and rising star Thomas Müller was nearly flawless with both his challenges and crosses. This was old-school Bayern Munich, and their performance came without Ribery or Robben. In other words, it was a demonstration of collective superiority from the Bundesliga’s most expensive and should-be-most-talented team. Based on that match, it would seem that Louis van Gaal, much criticized for over-rotating his personnel, has found a core squad. But Van Gaal reminds me of an extraterrestrial, and not just because of his physical appearance, and I’m very curious to see which eleven he fields in Stuttgart this weekend. If he benched Klose in favor of Van Buyten, promoted Philipp Lahm to playmaker and put Müller in goal, it wouldn’t surprise me. The General’s mind works in ways that simply aren’t transparent to us mere mortals. But I’ll give credit where credit is due. I dislike Bayern intensely, but even I was applauding on Wednesday, as the side got a win that for once had nothing to do with luck. |
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| 2 Comments |
| Good assessment. On one of your future posts, do newbies to football a favor and explain what Field Marshal van Gaal meant in this interview on K*c*er where he said: "The fourth phase, the final phase of our offense, is not producing good crosses; at the same time, the cohesion, working together, with strikers saying “Get me the ball,” hasn’t been working well. Now that cooperation is working...." Am a beginner, what 4 phases are there before the goal goes in? |
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| Matthew de Eivissa | E-Mail | 01.11.2009, 14:34 | ||
| As a regular reader all i can say is _keep up the good work, guys_ |
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| buzzerbeater | Homepage | E-Mail | 31.10.2009, 00:06 | ||