Breaking Down Arjen Robben's Performance for Bayern Munich vs. Schalke

Bayern Munich stumbled to a disappointing 1-1 draw on Tuesday when Schalke came to town and managed to escape with a point, despite playing with an extra man for much of the game. 

With no more than one point from their first two games Pep Guardiola will beginning to feel the pressure in Munich—despite keeping a cool eight point lead thanks to Wolfsburg drawing 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt—but will ultimately thank a certain star player for rescuing a point on the night. 

Arjen Robben once again popped up to save the day for Bayern with a performance that seems befitting of a more detailed breakdown.

Following the red card to Jerome Boateng in the 16th minute we saw Guardiola shuffle the entire team around but it didn't actually effect how Robben played his game. In fact it helped signify his role on the right wing for his team. 

Initially set up in a traditional 3-4-3, the red card forced Guardiola to bring Dante on for the central attacking midfielder Mario Gotze and changing the formation to something more akin to a 4-2-2-1 with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Xabi Alonso in the centre of the pitch while Robben and Juan Bernat occupied either wing. 

This essentially gave Robben the freedom of the entire right wing as well as added space in the centre of the pitch where Gotze once played. 

Squawka

When we look at the Dutch midfielder's heat graph, via Squawka, then we can see he enjoyed hugging the touchline in his usual fashion but also took pleasure in cutting inside and causing havoc where the traditional No.10 would usually roam. 

This helped Bayern in the sense that they had an out-ball on the wing that could focus their attack on Schalke.

Bernat is an exceptional player with boundless potential but as a former full-back the Spaniard lacks the patience and spacial awareness to make full use of the wing. Where Robben would hug the line and enjoy cutting inside or indeed cutting back altogether to play in his full-back, Bernat would simply galavant up and down the wing. Useful at time but a gung-ho style of football that suits nobody playing in a side with a man down. 

It was Robben's ability to cut inside and play as something of an inside-forward that then allowed Bayern to make full use of right-back Mitchell Weiser.

Weiser—a winger by trade until Guardiola got his hands on him—is a player of exceptional technical talent and was able to make full use of the space Robben opened up for him while moving inside. 

Looking at the graphic below, again via Squawka which shows Bayern's crosses through the match, we can see that Guardiola's side found much more joy on the right flank in terms of finding enough space and time to get the ball into the box. 

Squawka

This will first of all come across as rather strange to any vague onlooker at the manner in which Bayern had set themselves up on the night. Considering the left flank consisted of David Alaba and Bernat—two out and out attackers–and the right consisted of a winger who had to cut inside to use his favoured foot, it would seem as though the former two would have enjoyed a lot more crosses throughout the match. 

Alas, this wasn't the case and again shows just how vital Robben is to the Bayern attacking system. After the Bavarian giants went down to 10 men they had no option but to run everything through their in-form winger and it shows in the manner in which the side tried to get the ball in to the box. 

Despite the attention paid to Robben's positioning on the right wing his most important contribution to the game was undoubtedly his goal in the 67th minute, which actually highlights a usually undervalued aspect of Robben's game. 

The Dutch winger put his side in the lead with a headed goal from the corner late in the second half which pulled his tally to 11 goals in the Bundesliga this season and his second whilst using his head.

That may not seem like much it now means Robben has headed in more goals in the Bundesliga this season than both Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, the club's two most prominent physical, bruising forwards. Although Robben may never shake off his reputation for diving after even the most faint tackles there's no denying that the winger has rounded off his game in the past few years by becoming a formidable presence in the air. 

A talent that ultimately won him a goal against Schalke and a much-needed point in one of Guardiola's most testing games since he came to Munich. 

@Sbienkowski