Arjen Robben's Dream Debut Ideally Timed For Louis Van Gaal

After their worst start to the Bundesliga season in 43 years, pressure was mounting for Dutch manager Louis van Gaal and his FC Bayern. Add to this poor start on the pitch the whole possible Ribery transfer saga and some expectant comments from Hoeness and you once again understand why FC Bayern is dubbed FC Hollywood, the club in constant turmoil.

Robben's blitz-transfer to Bavaria seems to be just what the doctor ordered though, as Bayern impressed versus reigning German champions VfL Wolfsburg. Despite having trained only once with his new team-mates, Robben excelled in the second half and scored two goals to guide Bayern to a 3-0 win.

Whilst the fans are celebrating the 3-0 win and the excellent combination between Ribery and Robben on the flanks, the Bayern board and manager Louis van Gaal will have sighed with relief as the team desperately needed a win.

Bayern are always aiming for the title and their start to the season was quite frankly quite poor. Draws versus Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen and a loss away to newly-promoted Mainz had caused Bayern's worst start in 43 years, so pressure was already mounting.

This 3-0 win will give Van Gaal some breathing space plus some lessons to learn from. Robben's debut was impressive but there were other interesting developments taking place that had nothing to do with Robben or how he interacted with that other Bayern star, Franck Ribery.

Van Gaal sent the team out in a 4-3-3 formation for the first time this season, which shows the kind of football he intends to play and the style which made him famous at Ajax, Barcelona, and AZ Alkmaar.

Van Gaal also dropped goalkeeper Michael Rensing, who was always thought to be Oliver Kahn's natural successor. The young German proved to be unreliable between the sticks over the past few games and was replaced by the more seasoned reserve goalie Hans-Jorg Butt. 

The more experienced goalie justified his coach's decision during the match, as he played a good game, keeping out dangerous efforts from Wolfsburg's Bosnian goal-getter Edin Dzeko to keep Bayern in the game at one point.

The last thing I noticed was the inclusion of two young German players in the starting line-up. Thomas Muller and Holger Badstuber are both products of the Bayern youth academy and they were both in the starting line-up, despite the presence of more renowned and established players.

It's another one of Van Gaal's traits, he's not afraid to give young players a chance to shine. If you're good enough, you're old enough and these two young lads seem to benefiting from that.

I'm happy to see Bayern win, as this gives Van Gaal more time to transform the club. When he's given a fair chance to build a new team, he could surprise people with his team's performances.

Bayern showed on Saturday that they are certainly capable of playing the kind of football Ajax and Barcelona once played.