Pep Guardiola's Compromise Pays off as Bayern Munich Reach New Heights

Bayern Munich put on their best performance of the Pep Guardiola era on Tuesday, hammering Roma 7-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. It was a hugely impressive showing from the German giants, who were 5-0 up over last season's Serie A runners-up after a little over half an hour.

Tuesday's drubbing was a long time coming, the culmination of weeks of progressively improving performances. Since their scoreless draw with Hamburg on September 20, Bayern have won all six of their games in all competitions by an aggregate score of 24-1.

It would be all too easy to say that Guardiola's tactics are finally being internalized by the team, but the truth is, Guardiola and Bayern are finally adapting to one another. It seems the two have reached an ideal compromise.

For some 15 months after Guardiola's arrival in July of 2013, the trainer had a very public internal conflict. As cited in this article, the ex-Barcelona manager admitted he would have to modify his tactics before insisting his players adapt to him. He later admitted there was no defending his idealism before once again reverting to the "tiki-taka" tactics that were too slow and defensible in possession and vulnerable to counterattacks. It was a painful and frequent oscillation between logical pragmatism and stubborn romanticism.

Bayern have reached top form as of late, however, and the Roma game was the first of the Guardiola era in which the German giants put on a performance truly worthy of the treble-winning 2012-13 season under Jupp Heynckes. Roma weren't some Bundesliga pushovers, they were Italy's second-best team and supposedly a rising power in Europe. They left the pitch humiliated.

Looking only at statistics and formations, one may not notice the change in Bayern over the last month. They're still playing an innovative formation that many analysts still disagree upon, something vaguely resembling either 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. They still regularly complete 700 or more passes and enjoy possession by ratios upwards of 3:1.

Where Guardiola has compromised, however, is allowing his players to take more risks and be more direct in pursuit of goals. It all began around the time of their 4-0 win against Paderborn, in which just three passes led to Mario Gotze's opener—the ball traveled from just inside the center circle to the goal in just seven seconds.

Against Hannover (highlights here), Bayern got three of their four goals using incredibly direct play. Robert Lewandowski scored a brace off the kind of long balls he used to receive at Dortmund, the type that have rarely ever been acceptable in a Guardiola team. A third goal came just four seconds after an interception. In that instance, Bayern won the ball back and immediately looked for goal rather than regrouping and allowing their opponents to do the same.

As of late, Bayern have been scoring goals for fun—much like they did under Heynckes. In the treble-winning season, they scored from all sorts of situations: there were crosses for headers, intricate passing sequences, dead-ball situations and brilliant solo efforts. They won seemingly at will, scoring in every possible way.

Against Bremen (highlights here), Bayern scored their first following a long cross and lay-off, their second from a direct free-kick, their third from a penalty, their fourth from a short pass and brilliant solo effort, their fifth from a clever passing sequence and their sixth from long range. It was a comprehensive display of the range of weapons Guardiola has grown to accept.

In August, the trainer was quoted (per ESPN) as having said that "without a sequence of 15 previous passes, a good transition between defense and attack is impossible."

Bayern's continued variation in attacking styles and increasingly direct play over the last month shows the players have proven to their coach that they can play effectively with fewer passes in the build-up and that Guardiola has abandoned his previous views.

On Tuesday, no Roma defender was in the box for more than a second before Gotze scored Bayern's second; the Italians didn't get the chance to park the bus inside their penalty area even if they wanted to. Arjen Robben's second goal required just two passes in the build-up; Franck Ribery found the net after Bayern spent just six seconds in the attacking half.

Guardiola inherited a treble-winning squad, and for over a year, his stubbornness was the biggest barrier to the team reaching their full potential. All that has changed in the last month, however, as the players and coach have reached a compromise. If they keep up their form through next May, there's no ruling out another treble, one forged by the players' natural abilities with just the right touch of Guardiola's tactical influence.

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