Champions League 2013/2014

[dakt]

Yesterdays game and this....unwatchable. Exactly how ATM played against us.
Too many passes from Bayern? And what else could they do?

 

[dakt]

if clueless pep starts lahm on the right, and doesn't play mandzukic who was completely useless, bayern might have a chance. say all you want about muller but this guy is good, im sure if he plays he will score. i don't have anything against mandzukic, it's just that if there were any tactics behind bayern's game it clearly didn't suit mandzu, and he should've been subbed off. pep got the tactics wrong. he's making bayern worse. lol.

They parked a f... bus! There's no strategy against such football.
Look what ATM did to us in the first game....ATM barley had chances, managed to shoot one ball and got lucky to score. Enough to win.

 

[Ursegor]

LOL They should pass on the Bundesliga title 13/14 to Real Madrid if they win the semis. Schalke, Dortmund, Bayern.

LOL @ people saying Real Madrid parked the bus. Bayern played EXACTLY like that against us last season. Except they took their chances (and some more: irregular goals and battered us on corner kicks in the air). Even the formation was the same: 4-4-2 and Ribery turning into additional leftback.

 

[BBZ8800]

LOL They should pass on the Bundesliga title 13/14 to Real Madrid if they win the semis. Schalke, Dortmund, Bayern.

LOL @ people saying Real Madrid parked the bus. Bayern played EXACTLY like that against us last season. Except they took their chances (and some more: irregular goals and battered us on corner kicks in the air). Even the formation was the same: 4-4-2 and Ribery turning into additional leftback.

So, basically, in the last few Seasons, teams who play Tiki-Taka lose, and teams who sit back and play counterattacks win 1:0 to 7:0.

 

[barcanuck]

Pep played it too safe. The second leg is going to be awesome because I see Real getting ran off the park like they did in Dortmund. Pep will field all Muller, Gotze, Mandzukic, Ribery Robben in the return leg book that. He wanted to play it really safe today and it's not the worst result but he now needs to win at home.

 

[Kerrybai]

If its Real vs Chelsea. I might support Chelsea...

Well of course, no cule in their right mind should want Madrid to pick up La Decima.

 

[El Gato]

Why exactly is Pep getting criticised for putting Lahm at DM? Bayern played better with Lahm there than they did after Rafinha got subbed off.

 

[Ursegor]

So, basically, in the last few Seasons, teams who play Tiki-Taka lose, and teams who sit back and play counterattacks win 1:0 to 7:0.

Possession football isn't dead. 95 % of the time it's the way to go. But there is a clear blueprint against it now. 4-4-2, 2 banks of 4, wingers tucked inside, sitting deep, working hard against the ball and swarming out on the break. No idea how to counter it. That's not my job to figure out. Probably just do the same. Take out all passing midfielders, play 4 strikers and 2 physical DMs, give up possession and be direct. But then you got borefests like Atletico vs. Chelsea. Basically Mourinho has ruined football.

 

[hardyboy]

If Pep plays this team in the second leg Bayern will definately go through..

---------------Neuer------------

Lahm------Dante-----Boeteng------Alaba

------Schweinsteiger----Martinez---------

Robben------------Muller----------Gotze

-----------------Mandzukic--------------

 

[Ursegor]

Why exactly is Pep getting criticised for putting Lahm at DM? Bayern played better with Lahm there than they did after Rafinha got subbed off.

It's hilarious how a rightback is a better midfielder than Schweinsteiger.

 

[ceefoo]

FT: Real Madrid 1 - 0 Bayern Munich CL SF 1st Leg

Since when has a club defending the Champions League found it easier the following season and gone on to retain their title?

A. None

(i) The last time occurring in the pre-Champions League era by Sacchi's Milan (1988-89 & 1989-1990). That is how difficult it is to defend this trophy.

Bayern may be the best team around right now but that gives them no divine right to steamroll every team in front of them. Like Madrid at the Bernabeau is going to be a push-over!?

Pep could have done some things better and I'm sure he will admit that, but to call him clueless is too much. Please, show the guy some respect!

He is not a fool and I'm sure he will look to correct things in the return leg. Bayern are not out of this! Anyone who has written them off after this result is idiotic.

 

[Gooch]

Heynckes Bayern were superior. I think Pep is trying to be too clever for Bayerns good. They are a versatile team but he has got them playing TOO much tiki taka. He had a dig at Tata and he should be looking out for his own back. I hope both ties go to extra time. A tired AM & RM is good for us!

Pep has no choice but to be too clever. How else can he differentiate his Bayern from Heynckes'?

Heynckes' team was superior because they played the way Germans are bred to play - pragmatically and physically. Pep has tried to add tiki taka to the mix, and though, credit to him, it did not harm them in the league, mostly due to their overwhelming talent, it the CL, it may be the death of them. All Real have to do now is sit and counter and Bayern is done. With Heynckes, Bayern would have sat back more and been happy with a 0-0 result in the first leg. Not fun to watch, but very German.

 

[BBZ8800]

Possession football isn't dead. 95 % of the time it's the way to go. But there is a clear blueprint against it now. 4-4-2, 2 banks of 4, wingers tucked inside, sitting deep, working hard against the ball and swarming out on the break. No idea how to counter it. That's not my job to figure out. Probably just do the same. Take out all passing midfielders, play 4 strikers and 2 physical DMs, give up possession and be direct. But then you got borefests like Atletico vs. Chelsea. Basically Mourinho has ruined football.

I know. I agree that Possession football isn't dead.
Against most of the Spanish teams and against most of European teams it is still good enough.

But I am happy that some other fans also see that it is dead against top teams who parks a bus.
Even the Barca from 2009 would have problems today because top teams today play better against Tiki-Taka then in 2009.

So, we shouldn't stop playing Tiki-Taka. We should play it in 90% of matches.
But against Real, Atletico, Chelsea, Bayern and other teams, we will lose in 2 matches.

Rijkaard broke Mourinho's Chelsea 2006 with some new tricks. He didn't play (all out attack) Possession football against Chelsea in 2006' (because he was "killed" on counterattacks in 2005, 4:2 at Stamford Bridge).
He played more physical midfield with Edmilson, Marquez, Van Bommel. And he gave some Possession to Chelsea.

Basically, he gave the ball to them and then they had to open slightly and they had to ruin their bus (since they had the ball). Then we had more spaces and scored Goals from semi-counterattacks.

Something like that (or some new tricks) should be done in the future. Playing how we played in the last 2-3 Seasons is not the way to go anymore in semifinals of CL against parked buses. Our current style is a road to ruin against any stronger team. (We can't score, and we will almost surely always concede 1 or 2 from counter-attacks)

 

[El Gato]

Possession football isn't dead. 95 % of the time it's the way to go. But there is a clear blueprint against it now. 4-4-2, 2 banks of 4, wingers tucked inside, sitting deep, working hard against the ball and swarming out on the break. No idea how to counter it. That's not my job to figure out. Probably just do the same. Take out all passing midfielders, play 4 strikers and 2 physical DMs, give up possession and be direct. But then you got borefests like Atletico vs. Chelsea. Basically Mourinho has ruined football.

If anything your explanation here shows he revolutionised it, because he came up with a way to counter a tactic that was labelled as one of those that you can't fight all out against.

If anything it's Pep who ruined football, because he came up with something that you cannot counter and that in 95% of cases is a winning formula. Great if you support that kind of team and admired by the rest, but so bad for football world in general. One of the things that contributed to the Spanish league's demise, because the teams that were even ever so slightly decent like Sevilla or Villarreal eventually didn't manage to hang on anymore without any kind of success, in the cup or in the league with two teams running away with 20 point gaps.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Since when has a club defending the Champions League found it easier the following season and gone on to retain their title?

A. None

(i) The last time occurring in the pre-Champions League era by Sacchi's Milan (1988-89 & 1989-1990). That is how difficult it is to defend this trophy.

Bayern may be the best team around right now but that gives them no divine right to steamroll every team in front of them. Like Madrid at the Bernabeau is going to be a push-over!?

Pep could have done some things better and I'm sure he will admit that, but to call him clueless is too much. Please, show the guy some respect!

He is not a fool and I'm sure he will look to correct things in the return leg. Bayern are not out of this! Anyone who has written them off after this result is idiotic.

This. Anybody expecting an easy victory for Bayern should really have their brain checked, it is Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu that we are talking about, after all.

Bayern is very much in the game, I still think they are the favorite to go through.