Bavaria in Bits: Ten Conclusions from the Barca-Bayern Game

I will start off by informing you about a hurricane that hit Bavaria in the early hours of Thursday morning. The hurricane destroyed hopes and shattered dreams, though the damage it did was very little. There were no shattered and broken down houses, but a few people received minor injuries.

The name of the hurricane? FC Barcelona.

German football was on the fall since Leverkusen’s defeat in the 2002 Champions League final against Real Madrid. Many people, including me, felt it was on the rise again this year.

I can still say so, as Werder and Hamburg have won convincingly in their UEFA Cup quarter final home legs (3-1 in both cases), but just have to watch their step in the return in order to set up an all German semi and thus at least one German in the final.

The conclusions:

• Christian Lell is not a natural left back; my first conclusion is about him. Lell is not a fan favourite. Above that, he is just not Lahm. Lahm was the one supposed to man mark Messi. Instead, the job went to this inexperienced Bavarian lad who was given a tough time by pretty much every opponent he had played against this season. Thus, Lell can never be played as a left back and should be kept benched for some while. Unfortunately, Lell has been chosen to start against Frankfurt.
• Secondly, how could Massimo Oddo be given the job of man marking Henry? Oddo is 33, Henry 31. Henry’s legs still have plenty of power in them and Oddo is a shadow of the one seen at the World Cup. It’s better to let him return to AC Milan rather than to sign him permanently. At least, I object to a permanent deal for Massimo Oddo.
• Hans-Jorg Butt is experienced and is a better option by a million per cent than Mr. Rensing. However, a person without match-practice cannot be dropped into a Champions League quarterfinal clash all of a sudden. As a result, Butt deserves more match practice. Thankfully for Bayern supporters, Butt has started against Frankfurt. The same goes for Altintop, who is a wonderful player but started the Barca game immediately after a lay off.
• Toni is not Klose. Klose has pace and can be very handy in setting up his strike partner. He is also quite good alone up front. However, Toni’s game is all about strength. A better option against Barca would have been Jose Sosa, who definitely deserves more games. Olic will arrive in the summer and hopefully help when Klose is out. Klose and Olic would be able to play together as well. The problem is their playing styles are similar.
• Next comes Mark Van Bommel. I think the arrival of Anatoliy Tymoschuk will do Bayern a lot of good. It’s time to say “Auf Wiedersehen” to Captain Bommel. He is aggressive, and despite managing to get the ball from Messi, he passed the ball directly to Henry in the Barca game.
• Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge better give a second thought before selecting a coach to replace Klinsmann. He is a good coach and he really hasn’t lost the dressing room. It’s just that the team has too many injuries to deal with at the moment. Klinsmann transformed Germany in one and a half years. A year more at Bayern may just be the dose Klinsmann needs.
• Franck Ribery needs to be replaced. He is definitely a class act and a highly influential player, but Bayern really need a good replacement. Ribery really doesn’t care about Bayern anymore. He was busy trading jerseys at half time when his team was 4-0 down. Bayern are too dependant on Ribery as well. Ribery leaving may lead to Bayern being less dependant on a single player, i.e. success in the long run.
• Bayern need to sign at least two more central defenders and a left back in the summer, right now if possible. Demichellis and Breno should both be spectators next season. Van Buyten can be given some sub appearances though. Fabio Cannavaro may not be a bad idea. In my eyes, someone such as Joris Mathijsen of Hamburg would be perfect.
• After the loss against Barca, Beckenbauer and Rummenigge criticized the team heavily. In which world do they honestly live in? How could they think that a makeshift Bayern team would go out and get a result at the Camp Nou? I am thankful that the Kaiser is leaving the club after this season. Rather than backing the team, he is busy insulting them. On the other hand, Rummenigge won’t even give Bayern a chance for the second leg. Even though a turnaround is close to impossible, he shouldn’t really say that the team is out of contention.
• Finally, it may take a few years before Bayern return to their prime. If Rummenigge and the Kaiser can’t accept it, then you are looking at the newest Benfica.

Well, that’s about it. Who honestly expected Bayern to get a result? I hoped, but didn’t really expect it. A makeshift team against a Barca strongest 11 just doesn’t work. Besides that, I am hoping Bayern will change their captain soon. Lucio is already a vice-captain, but I think Lahm or Klose would do the job better.

I will end with a quote from Van Bommel: "Perhaps if they only bring eight men to Munich then we have a chance."