What We've Learned from Guardiola's First Few Games in Charge at Bayern Munich

Pep Guardiola's move to Bayern Munich came with tremendous expectations, and two months into his tenure at the Allianz Arena, there have been mixed results. In some ways, individuals and the team have benefited greatly. In others, the Bavarians have regressed.

The greatest benefit Bayern have enjoyed from Guardiola's arrival is the respect he commands, which has served as inspiration even in the club's lower ranks. FC Bayern II have won nine out of their first 10 matches in the Regionalliga Bayern and now command a seven-point lead in the table. At this rate it seems the Bavarians are destined for promotion to the 3. Liga—and more importantly, the first team may soon benefit from the services of high-achieving youngsters like Julian Green and Vladimir Rankovic.

In the senior squad, fringe players like Jerome Boateng and Xherdan Shaqiri have newfound drive. The former has asserted himself in a starting role that he may well keep throughout the season, while the latter has been a spark plug off the bench.

Franck Ribery, meanwhile, is playing with more confidence than ever before. UEFA's Best Player in Europe has enjoyed a special relationship with Guardiola since the manager's arrival. This is best illustrated by the fact that when he scored the equalizer in the UEFA Super Cup, rather than celebrating with his teammates, Ribery immediately ran to embrace Guardiola.

One thing that is still uncertain is the system Guardiola prefers for his Bayern team. Early in his tenure, he used Ribery as a main striker. Since the beginning of the competitive season, he's used more orthodox forwards like Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro in the center of attack in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Although the 4-1-4-1 system has been used consistently, injuries to key figures like Mario Gotze and Javi Martinez have made it unclear as to how Guardiola prefers to play when his team is fully fit.

Guardiola's tactical decisions at Barcelona would suggest that he may use Martinez in defense, but the 25-year-old has thus far only been fit enough to come off the bench twice to shore up Bayern's defensive midfield. Similarly, Gotze has a skill set analogous to that of Lionel Messi, which would suggest the German might be deployed as a main striker once he returns to form and fitness. 

As of now, we don't know exactly how Guardiola will play when he has a fully-fit squad. What we have learned is that he is willing to deviate from the false-striker 4-3-3 formation that made him successful at Barca. With Bayern's on-pitch performance well below the standard from last season, perhaps Guardiola will be willing to change again, refining his system to get the most from his players.

Thus far, Guardiola has not come close to getting the best out of his team as a whole. The balance between attack and defense that existed under Jupp Heynckes last season is now gone; the double pivot has been eliminated, with one defensive midfielder replaced by an attacker.

The extra attacking midfielder thus far has done little good: The Bavarians are in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table in terms of goals scored. And although their defensive weaknesses have gone unnoticed against modest Bundesliga teams, they have been abundantly clear in their only big tests of the season. Against Dortmund and Chelsea, Bayern conceded a combined six goals, a far cry from the record of four consecutive clean sheets against Juventus and Barcelona last season.

Another troubling aspect of Guardiola's early tenure in Munich is that many star players are in need of some time off.

Martinez has been injured consistently in recent weeks, Mario Gotze has barely played since April, and Bastian Schweinsteiger's ankle problems now appear chronic. Bayern (and Gotze at Dortmund) played until the end of May and only had a brief break before returning to training.

Last season followed a campaign in which Bayern were involved in just as many competitive games and also had the not-so-small issue of Euro 2012 to complicate things and shorten summer holidays. In summary, a tremendous ask has been made of many of Bayern's players over the last few years, and fatigue is finally catching up to some, leading to injuries.

Bayern certainly have some hurdles to overcome. Guardiola has taken a big risk in making so many changes to an already-winning formula, and fatigue and injuries have only made it more difficult for the team to adapt.

At the moment, however, the manager still has a very motivated team that is generally excited to play for and learn from him. Time will tell whether or not Bayern can reach new heights under Guardiola.

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