Simply put, Bayern Munich is the best football team on the planet right now. This formation-less, position-less, all-conquering team from Bavaria, moulded by Herr Guardiola has become the perfect footballing machine. Are they still capable of dominating possession against Europe’s very best? Just ask the Arsenal. But watching their first goal v Dortmund in their 5-1 thrashing of their closest competitors in the Bundesliga, it is wholly apparent that they have added ruthless directness to their repertoire. Yes, this Bayern team is evolving. Pep’s Barcelona was often accused of playing suffocating football, keeping possession often needlessly at times. The thought process probably being; ‘we could score if we wanted, but it’s more fun watching you desperately try to stop us’. However, Guardiola’s time in Germany seems to have had a great influence on his tactical approach. German football is characterized by discipline, organization, and running. Lots of it. Combining the counter-attacking characteristics of the league, with the possession-heavy style that conquered Europe from 2009-2012, and what we have is a team in Champions League winning form.
So, how have they done it? How does a team already seemingly complete evolve even further? Other than the addition of outstanding playing personal -and in the instance of Douglas Costa, due to- Bayern have added concepts to their principles of positional play that has made them an even more dangerous unit; the use of qualitative superiority, and the use of verticality and diagonality.
Qualitative superiority
To win football games, you need to have an advantage over the opposition. It’s not enough to just have better players or be the better team. You must create superiorities that allow you to exploit, neutralize or dominate the opposition. You will often hear the term ‘creating overloads’ being used, and essentially this is simply creating situations where you outnumber the opposition – 2v1s, 3v2s. Numerical superiority. Qualitative superiority provides a different advantage. Quite possibly, the most frightening situation for a defender in football currently, is facing Douglas Costa in a 1v1 situation. The ability to beat the man is a skill often not appreciated enough in football as it carries connotations of supporting the individual over the collective. However used properly, final 3rd penetration becomes a more frequent occurrence. A very simple concept in football is starting an attack down one side, to finish it on the other. Defences react to the position of the ball thus, if it’s on the right hand side, then that area is overloaded. However, this also means the space to play is on the left, and if play is switched quickly, effective underloading into the free area leaves the free man space to run with the ball, take people on and penetrate. If that free man is Douglas Costa… well. You know.
Verticality and diagonality
Football games are won by scoring goals. And to score goals you need to break through defensive lines. This can be done vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Each has their significant advantage and disadvantage, but focusing on verticality and diagonality, the superiorities of playing within these frames are substantial. The biggest advantage of verticality is that it allows you to gain territory -sorry, still in Rugby World Cup mode- quickly. A sideways 40-yard pass might move the ball away from pressure, but in theory, the team hasn’t advanced positionally. The issue with verticality is that in terms of completion, it is the most difficult of the three. Furthermore defences can simply drop in order to deal with it. That’s where diagonality comes into effect. Horizontal and vertical play both force the defence to react with one movement – sideways or back. A diagonal pass in theory forces the defence to do both. It incorporates the territory-gaining advantage of vertical play with the play-switching characteristics of horizontal play.
Combine these new tactical concepts with the superior technical quality of the Bayern Munich players and what you have is a team that can adapt to any opposition. That can dominate any opposition. Even the difficulty of verticality is somewhat reduced due to the ability of Pep’s men. The Bundesliga is as good a wrapped up already. 57 goals in 19 games so far. The boys from Bavaria are on a mission. Bet against them at your peril.