3 Things We Noticed: FC Bayern – Werder Bremen 4-2 (1-1)

The victory against Leverkusen was extremely important for Bayern Munich. The lead in the table was extended and apart from Leipzig, all remaining matches against the top 6 will take place at home. So it was an important step towards the championship.

Three Things We Noticed

1. Shaky build-up

1.Bayern’s weak position play

Heynckes went on the offensive against Bremen, but Bayern had problems keeping their positions. James and Ribery both acted mostly in the half-spaces and were very often moving to the sides. Ribery, in particular, rarely held his position and could be found everywhere.

This can have positive effects on the game, but Ribery was too focused. This led to the fact that he did not always make himself available correctly and so the structure of Bayern in the possession game was often very unclean.
Bayern seldom managed to move the game to the front and thus set the Bremen defence in motion. In addition, the central defenders Boateng and Süle were lacking in the transition to the last third. Very often the distance between Martinez and the central defenders was too big. It was not surprising that Boateng provided the assist for Bayern’s equaliser. Boateng had hardly any other options and had to hit the long ball.

In general, there were many switches on the offensive and positions were filled flexibly. However, Bayern often lacked the right balance in their offensive play. As a result, Bayern was unable to open up spaces and use gaps. In this game, you could tell that a player like Thiago, who controls the game and is able to give the balance in the combination game, was missed.

2. Shaky defence

Not only on an individual level, but also as a team, Bayern defended poorly against Bremen. Bremen not only scored two goals, but also had a few more chances. All four defenders and also Sven Ulreich had a rather weak day. All of them repeatedly showed a lack of concentration and were anything but sovereign.

But not only the defenders didn’t work well on the defensive, also the rest of the team did not do their defensive duties well. Especially in the first half there was a lot of space around Martinez. The Basque seldom received support from James and Müller, Bernat and Kimmich were also left alone on the sidelines a few times.

Against Bremen, as is so often the case under Heynckes, Bayern used a 4-1-4-1 pressing, which again and again became a 4-1-3-2. Here, the offensive players were hardly able to gain access in the press and Werder was able to play around it quite often and then use the space next to Martinez. Jupp Heynckes will be far from satisfied with the defensive performance, as such mistakes will be punished even more consistently in the Champions League.

3. No recommendation for Robbery

Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben both have only a contract until the summer. Both could not recommend themselves against Bremen. Arjen Robben was poorly integrated and never really found his way into the game. He was rarely released on the right wing to use his dribbling to create danger.

Contrary to Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery was very visible, but especially in the first half he was mostly a bit hyperactive. He hardly held his position, offered himself almost too much and did not always make the right decisions on the ball. On the left-hand side, he too seldom took advantage of the problems Bauer had against him. Too often he’d get stuck or play the passes at the wrong moment. He only helped the Bavarian offensive game by offering fast combinations if he created superior numbers with Müller and Robben on the right side.

In the defensive work they were not particularly strong either. In order to play a good role in the Champions League this year, however, both players have to get back into shape to make the Bavarian offensive section more dangerous again.

FC Bayern – Werder Bremen
FC Bayern	Ulreich – Bernat, Süle, Boateng, Kimmich – Martínez (58. Vidal) – Ribéry, James, Müller, Robben (58. Coman) – Lewandowski (77. Wagner)
Bench	Starke, Rafinha, Rudy, Tolisso
Werder Bremen	Pavlenka – Augustinsson, Moisander, Veljković, Bauer (46. Gebre Selassie) – Bargfrede (80. Belfodil), Eggestein – Gondorf (73. Kainz), Delaney, Junuzović – Kruse
Bench	Drobný, Sané, Jacobsen, Johannssón
Goals	0-1 Gondorf (25.), 1-1 Müller (41.), 2-1 Lewandowski (63.), 2-2 Süle (74., Eigentor), 3-2 Lewandowski (77.), 4-2 Müller (84.)
Cards	Yellow: – / Bauer (5.), Bargfrede (65.)
Referees	Dr. Robert Kampka (Mainz), Robert Kempter (Stockach), Benedikt Kempkes (Thür), Dominik Schaal (Tübingen), Felix Zwayer (Berlin), Arne Aarnink (Nordhorn)
Attendance	75,000 (sold out)