The Van Gaal Rule: Destined For Success?

I was lying on my bed in April 2009 and watching CNN. The news of Jurgen Klinsmann’s sacking sent shockwaves through me. A few minutes later, I visited fcbayern.de. My worst fears had come true.

The hiring of Louis Van Gaal was even more shocking than the firing of Klinsmann. Now the question is “Can van Gaal make it?”

Van Gaal likes "possession football". He doesn’t want to go out and attack. He wants his players to keep the ball in possession and wait for the opposition to make a mistake. In the case that his side loses possession, he wants them to make sure that they do not allow the opposition to enter Bayern’s half and as a result keep the ball away from either Michael Rensing or Hans-Jorg Butt.

The new Bayern head coach has already stated that his methods will not bear fruit immediately but will take at least two years to succeed.

The formation which he used in the first half of his first friendly was:

                                                          Hans- Jorg Butt

Philipp Lahm           Daniel Van Buyten       Holger Badstuber (Lucio)      Edson Brafheid

                                                  Mark van Bommel

Anatoliy Tymoschuk                                                           Pranjic (Schweini)

                                                 Jose Sosa (Franck Ribery)

                  Miroslav Klose (Ivica Olic)                                     Mario Gomez (Toni)

The players in brackets were injured, suspended or still on break. Lell was also injured.

First of all, this formation can easily succeed.

However, Mark Van Bommel comes into mind. I doubt whether Van Bommel can protect the back four. Hamit Altintop can do that job as well but is quite prone to injuries.

Lucio is a good defender but sometimes, he can go invincible. Daniel van Buyten can score goals from set pieces and is a pretty good defender. Yet, someone like Messi could cause him problems.

Put Demichelis there and he is going to make last minute tackles. However, not everybody seems to think of him as a solid defender. Breno needs to gain more experience. Badstuber has just been promoted to the senior team. As a result, the centre of defence could be a weak point for Bayern. As far as the flanks are concerned Gorlitz could cover for Lahm when Lahm is injured.

Franck Ribery might not be devoted to Bayern as his mind is currently lying in Spain. Jose Sosa is a good replacement, but just not sufficient enough to cover for Ribery if he gets injured. More so, Sosa needs more experience.

The front pair almost seems like a dream pair. In the case that Gomez gets injured, Toni can cover, but if you ask me, it would be extremely difficult to compensate for Gomez. Klose and Olic are players of the same type. They are equally tall and hard working. I would prefer Klose though. Thomas Muller is another excellent option upfront.

The goalkeepers are pretty good. I don’t think keeping will be too much of a problem in the coming season.

Looking at the squad tells you that Bayern will be scoring plenty of goals. In the absence of Christian Lell the defense will be better. Yet, the defence can easily fall apart. This squad needs to learn to be with each other. The young defenders, meaning Badstuber and Breno need more experience.

This formation could well make it to the Champions League final in two years' time but not immediately. Defence is an important factor in Europe and that’s what looks slightly doubtful to me.

I can see this team coming through but not in less than a year, least not 44 matches. I am not quite sure whether Uli Hoeness will be prepared to accept that. I am not a big fan of the new sporting director Christian Nerlinger either.

Van Gaal is a coach who cares a lot about discipline. That could pose a problem. I am not sure too many players would like staying away from the Munich nightlife.

This is what van Gaal stated at the first conference:

“Mia san mia [a Bavarian saying roughly meaning ‘We are who we are’] and I am who I am,” the club’s first Dutch coach declared. “Assured, arrogant, dominant, honest, hard-working, innovative, but warm and family-oriented—that about sums up my personality,” the 57-year-old stated. “And that’s why I think I’ll fit in here. The culture at Bayern Munich and the Bavarian attitude to life are made to measure for me.”

I think Van Gaal could make it in the  long term despite not being a big fan of him. I know it’s too early to tell though. Do you think he can make it?