Daniel Moore
It took Bayern Munich six attempts to win the Bundesliga after it was formed in 1964. Indeed, relative footballing minnows Eintracht Braunschweig tasted Bundesliga success before the superstars of Munich managed to lift the trophy. To make matters worse, FC Bayern’s city rivals, TSV 1860 Munich, also won the competition long before them.
Skip forward 40 years and it has become the norm to expect the Bavarian giants’ name at the top of the table come the season’s end. Seven league title successes since 1999 confirms their decade-long Bundesliga dominance, yet one league title victory in the last three seasons may suggest to some that Bayern are losing their tried and tested way of achieving Bundesliga success.
Step forward Louis van Gaal. The former Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar and Holland coach was appointed Bayern boss on the 1st July, and has brought with him major changes in and around the Allianz Arena. Seven new faces, including Ukrainian midfield dynamo Anatoliy Tymoschchuk, Germany’s star striker Mario Gomez, and, arguably most exciting of all, Dutch flying winger Arjen Robben from Real Madrid, have been brought to the club, for a total outlay far exceeding €70M.
The most important piece of business from the German giants this summer, however, was keeping hold of a certain French superstar. Despite Franck Ribery’s very public flirting with Real Madrid for virtually the entire summer, van Gaal, as well as the entire board of directors at Bayern, remained adamant that the Frenchman would be staying at the club.
So sure was van Gaal that Ribery would remain with the Bavarians, that he publicly spoke of his desire to build the team around his French playmaker, stating “the creativity starts with him, and I am happy to make him important in this team” – the stubbornness and determination that is often used to describe van Gaal shining through, in the face of Ribery’s clear willingness to make the move to Madrid.
It is therefore likely that van Gaal’s stony determination to keep hold of his key asset was a major factor in Ribery’s decision to go public on their “difficult relationship”. Often considered the joker of the team, the French international admitted that he found van Gaal “too serious”, and implied that they were initially not seeing eye to eye. A stuttering start to the club’s Bundesliga campaign coincided with Ribery’s absence from the starting XI. 30 minutes was all that he was afforded in the opening three games, and from those games Bayern took just two points.
Matchday five saw Borussia Dortmund entertain the Bavarians. 80,552 fans packed into the Westfalenstadion to witness a truly remarkable game, and one in which relations between Ribery and van Gaal very visibly began to thaw. Indeed, after Ribery nested his free kick into the top corner from just outside the Dortmund penalty area and proceeded to sprint towards his manager, it might have been a wise idea for slightly more prudish parents in attendance to shield their children’s eyes, for the public display of affection between manager and player that followed was truly unexpected – the Frenchman, having sprinted across the field and towards the direction of the Bayern dugout, dived into the welcoming arms of van Gaal, their embrace going against every Franck Ribery-related story that had been released throughout the summer.
In the post-game press conference van Gaal said “he’s shown today that he loves the coach”. It remains to be seen whether relations between the pair will continue improving, but their in-game embrace can only be taken as positive news for Bayern fans.
If keeping hold of Ribery was vital to Bayern’s season, then the signing of Arjen Robben from Real Madrid for €25M must also be up there in terms of importance. The Oranje midfielder, after coming off the bench, bagged a brace in his debut against Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg, coached by ex-Bayern trainer Felix Magath. The deal to sign Robben, it has been suggested, was lined up by president Franz Beckenbauer, and once the Germans had agreed the fee with Real Madrid the transfer was ratified and completed in less than 48 hours. With the acquisitions of Robben, Gomez and Ivica Olic, Bayern can now boast one of the most impressive forward lines in Europe, with players such as Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni and the young prodigy Thomas Müller able to provide healthy competition for a starting place.
Their biggest problem, it would seem, is in defence, with only one clean sheet in seven games so far this season. Beckenbauer has admitted that the departure of captain and talisman Lucio to Inter Milan has left a huge gap that is yet to be filled, stating “with hindsight, the decision to let Lucio go was perhaps a mistake”.
Bayern’s recent 1-0 defeat against Hamburg has left many fans once again questioning whether their players are really up for the fight to regain the Bundesliga trophy this season. Van Gaal opted to drop Mario Gomez in place of ex-Hamburg man Ivica Olic, and also shuffled his defence again, with Phillip Lahm, Breno and Holger Badstuber all playing at right-back at some stage during the game. It is this defensive uncertainly that is undermining Bayern’s performances this season, and van Gaal has to eradicate their defensive frailties before the Bayern faithful can begin to dream of Bundesliga success once again.
Despite this, if anybody is able to wrestle the Bundesliga title back to the Allianz Arena this year, then Louis van Gaal is the man for the job, and one would be foolish to write off their chances at this very early stage of the campaign.
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