The Rückrunden-Manifesto
January 14, 2016 29 Kingsley Coman
Most important task: to expand his game.
It has probably surprised everyone how well developed the young Frenchman is already. At the beginning of the season it was clear that Guardiola was willing to lead the 19-year-old into the team. After a few shaky appearances in the beginning, Coman showed that he is a full part of the team with 10 scorer points in 17 appearances.
Coman has a stunning acceleration, with which he is able to go past opponents even without overly creative movements. His dribbling stats are at the level of Douglas Costa in the Bundesliga. Coman likes to play passes from the baseline into the middle, but less than 1 out of 4 of his four high long balls per game find a teammate.
Coman has to further differentiate (or diversify) his game. He must learn to vary the pace and his passing game in the attacking third must be more constant. Despite some small things that are missing in Coman’s game, he is a godsend for the team. He has proven that he can have a positive influence on the game on both wings. Coman extends Guardiola’s opportunities in the second half of the season. He is now an option in every game – whether from the bench or in the starting XI. That was absolutely not to be expected when the versatile offensive player was aquired.
10 Arjen Robben
Most important task: Stay fit.
It’s really not much more. Robben must stay fit. His stats in nearly 600 minutes were sometimes quite significantly behind the previous years. 1.9 successful dribbles and 3.5 shots on goal in the Bundesliga were the worst values since his move to Munich. Who reads a larger negative trend would be wrong. Even in the injury shortened first half of the season Robben was involved in a goal scored almost every 100 minutes and also assisted more shots than ever before (3 per 90 minutes). This fits with the impression of a more creative role with more time spent in the center of the pitch in the current season.
Robben’s presence alone helps Bayern’s game immensely. Douglas Costa had so many freedoms with Robben on the field, because the opponent’s defense focused a lot of resources on their left touchline. Bayern’s game is at a different level with two dangerous wingers, instead of one. Guardiola has repeatedly stressed this. He just needs to stay fit …
Perhaps one day someone will write a book about Robben’s body. Transfermarkt.de lists 13 injurys since Guardiola’s arrival in the summer of 2013. Having already missed the second half of last season with two different muscle injuries, more muscular problems and an abductor injury threw him back this season.
It remains questionable, what is the right way. Minimizing game time to avoid injuries – or reduce the training volumes. Guardiola and the entire staff should also put a lot of thought into it, because Bayern’s chances of success in the second half of the season (and especially the in Champions League) are heavily linked with the name Arjen Robben.
7 Franck Ribery
Most important task: Deciding an important game.
It’s hard to count on Franck Ribery in the upcoming second half of the season. He played just 62 minutes this season, having already missed most of the second half of last season through injury. That Ribéry hinted in these few minutes that he can help the team in his state, speaks for the quality of the now 32-year-old.
Ribéry is in a stage of his career where the only thing that matters is just about getting back on the pitch. The Frenchman will not – even if he is fit – demand a place in the starting XI, not like in the past. It would be terrific if Ribéry could get into shape to have an impact in important matches as a “Edeljoker” (high quality substite) from the bench.
Maybe a Champions League quarter-final will come along, in which Bayern will desperately need an away goal in the last 15 minutes. That could be Ribery’s moment. However, Bayern should not bet their money on Ribery fully recovering in time, considering the never-ending injury problems
25 Thomas Müller
Most important task: spread unrest.
Worte, an denen Thomas Müller sich messen lassen muss! #2016 #Mueller #Bild (via @MEEDIA) pic.twitter.com/xfCDICqovf
— 11FREUNDE_de (@11Freunde_de) January 7, 2016
There are many clever articles that try to explain why Thomas Müller is so good, although he actually is not outstanding in any single aspect. His feeling for the right spaces, his unorthodox but highly concentrated shots and headers. All this is well documented. But there is something else that makes Müller so valuable. His hyperactivity. Müller runs, shouts, gestures, discusses, goes into tricky duels, runs into zones that nobody is aware of, even if he knows that it’s hard to get the ball there.
Müller spreads constant unrest. Especially when the opponent can not focus on blocking passing lanes or moving from one wing to the next, due to Müller’s actions. His diagonal and horizontal runs in the back of the defensive line are challenging the opponent’s defense constantly and nag at the concentration of the defender. At the same time he holds up the tension in his own team by constantly communicating with everyone and everything on the pitch. An important factor in a team that has two games each week and that cannot afford to have a bad game.
Müller is playing a consistently good season so far. No other Bayern field player collected more league minutes (1,315). He had never scored more than 13 goals in a Bundesliga season. At halftime this season he already has 14 (including five penalty). In addition, five more goals in six Champions League matches. In the Bundesliga Müller is ranked fourth in shots (53) and fifth in shots assisted (37). In the Champions League he is in third place in terms of shots, behind Ronaldo and team-mate Lewandowski. Müller always functions. From open play, he scored five times with the right, five times with the left and three times with his. He was involved in 4 of the 9 Bayern goals in the difficult phase after the injury of Douglas Costa in the late fall. His interactions with Robert Lewandowski in more central areas has also helped the Pole to raise his game to the next level.
Müller makes Bayern’s game better in so many different ways, he will start in the big games in the second half of the season, either in a hybrid role on the wing or as a second striker with Lewandowski. Guardiola needs his goal instinct and his healthy restlessness (best over the full 90 or 120 minutes).
9 Robert Lewandowski
Most important task: to remain stone cold.
“Robert Lewandowski is even more valuable if he learns how to achieve simple goals.” That’s what I wrote in August in my 15 theses on the Bayern season 2015/2016. Lewandowski has fully confirmed this thesis. Last season he needed nine shots inside the penalty area for a goal. This season, this figure dropped to 5. In the Champions League even to 3.3. That’s close to Mario Gomez, who also only needed 3.3 shots in the penalty area for a goal in his phenomenal year 2010/2011. 23 goals in official matches for Lewandowski are the reward of a brilliant half of the season with the spectacular five-pack against Wolfsburg as an individual highlight of his career so far. He also scored the leading goal or the equalizer seven times in all competitions.
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Lewandowski is still significantly less integrated into the game, compared to his time in Dortmund. He plays fewer passes, assists fewer shots, conquered less balls than in the jersey of black and yellow. But he shoots much more frequently on goal than ever. 6 times every 90 minutes in the Bundesliga (by far No. 1) and 5.5 times every 90 minutes in the Champions League (2nd place). In the Bundesliga, he has nearly doubled the number of his shots. Lewandowski has evolved from a “playing striker” to a “striker that plays”. This may sound minimal. It probably is, but it is noticeable.
Lewandowski still likes to rotate to the left wing, or sometimes drops far back into midfield. However, this happens far less frequently due to him not being involved in the game, compared to last season. Lewandowski has significantly worked on his role in and around the penalty area against teams that park the bus, compared to his time in Dortmund.
After coming off the bench, followed by five goals against Wolfsburg in late September, he was always in the starting XI. Only Müller has collected a few more minutes. How much Lewandowski has benefited from a more centrally playing Müller was clearly visible towards the end of the first half of the season, when Costa and Robben were injured and Müller often had to play on the wings. Lewandowski’s goals per games dropped noticeably. Only once he scored in the last four league games.
In the second half of the season Bayern’s offensive options should be back to full power. A lot suggests that Lewandowski will have a long fight with Dortmund’s Aubameyang for the “Torjäger-Kanone” (most goals scored) in the Bundesliga until the end of the season. If Lewandowski remains so stone cold as in much of the first half of the season, he will continue his outstanding season so far at a high level.
