Bayern vs. Roma: Thoughts and Observations

Bayern were undoubtedly the better side possession-wise; however, they had to work away all night to break down the stingy Italians.

The Match

The first half was a horrible sight as Bayern kept the ball and tried to break down the Italians with little success. In the second half, Bayern turned up the heat and caught the Italians out. Thomas Mueller scored a beauty from a Daniel Van Buyten pass and Miroslav Klose wrapped it up with a "karate style" kick from a Holger Badstuber free kick.

Observations

• Ivica Olic had little success last night and has yet to score at all this season. Louis Van Gaal continues to place his faith on the "energizer bunny"; at one point he will run out of patience. Olic ran all night but with little success. This is also down to the fact that the 4-5-1 formation is problematic for Bayern strikers. Mario Gomez, Klose and Olic usually like to get balls from the wingers in the box but the ambitious wingers in the club with the exception of Toni Kroos all like to cut into the box rather than pass to a team mate in the box.

• Toni Kroos showed both sides to his character; he lost the ball in the first half at times but played a big part in breaking down Roma in the second. He took his famous shots but all of them were blocked. Whether he did enough to satisfy Van Gaal and remain in the line-up against Koeln is the big question.

• Bastian Schweinsteiger seemed a bit more defensive than usual. Mark Van Bommel is supposed to be the defensive stalwart in midfield and Schweini is expected to move forward but aside from two shots, most of his passes went backwards rather than forwards yesterday. Van Bommel cannot be expected to move forward but Schweini should really help the forwards and attacking midfielders.

• The defence, aside from three awkward moments had very little trouble. After Mueller's goal, Marco Boriello caught the entire central defence napping but his shot was saved by Hans-Joerg Butt. One of the Roma runs occurred down Philipp Lahm's wing which is worrying. Diego Contento did very well last night. Van Buyten and Badstuber deserve credit as both of them provided the assists for both goals.

• Hans- Joerg Butt might be 36 years of age. However, Bayern should allow him to stay on for more than just this season after last night as well as the game against Bremen. He was wonderful whenever he was called on and made two good saves when he was needed most. Bayern kept a clean sheet mainly because of his reflexes against Roma.

Thoughts

• Louis Van Gaal would probably never try it but if he sends Franck Ribery to the bench, the whole attacking midfield and the front man will be more involved as Ribery rarely passes. Just before the winter break last season, Bayern had great success with a 4-4-2 formation and it wouldn't be a bad idea to play two strikers up front and play with two wingers in Mueller and Kroos till Arjen Robben comes back.

• The World Cup players who were regulars for their sides still did not seem to be high on energy with the exception of Thomas Mueller and Miro Klose. Louis Van Gaal could try a bit of rotation considering that Bayern have a team on the bench which could compete in the Bundesliga and even earn a Europa League place on a regular basis. He could try playing Daniel Pranjic, Hamit Altintop, David Alaba and Andreas Ottl from time to time.

• The striker issue is becoming a big one in Bayern. A look at the stats tells us that while Klose and Gomez have got on the score sheet, Olic hasn't. Olic can be left on the bench for some time in the favour of the two Germans. Olic was the best striker of the previous season; but as most say, Van Gaal doesn't choose his favourite players; he chooses players according to form.

• Toni Kroos deserves a place in the starting eleven regularly simply because he is a team player and always has bright moments. Kroos always seems to have energy but Van Gaal preferred to leave the young German out of the starting eleven last week.

That's about it. Bayern play Koeln on Saturday. Let me hear your thoughts on the match.