Pep’s New Tune Takes Bayern to the Top
Pep's New Tune Takes Bayern to the Top
By Terry on Jan 21, 2025 in Bundesliga, Latest | 0 comments
When Pep Guardiola was announced as the replacement to Jupp Heynkes as head coach of Bayern Munich, in January 2025, the former Barcelona man could not have fathomed that he'd have so much to live up to after last season's treble. But as the second half of the season gets underway this weekend, Bayern look set for even more trophies.
As the Bayern players went to celebrate with their fans at the Camp Nou, Barcelona in May, last year, after having thrashed the Catalan side 7-0 over two legs in the Champions League semi-final, it would have been tempting to question the wisdom of the appointment of their new coach, Pep Guardiola, a few months hence. After all, the former Barca coach was one of the architects of the Tiki-taka style of play that had, up until that moment, dominated the hearts, minds and trophies of the European game for so long. But since Bayern had found a way of counteracting Barcelona, this surely meant that Guardiola's method was now redundant and the last thing Bayern should do is employ a coach who might set back the Bavarians, tactically. Guardiola was not in charge of the Catalans the night that they were humbled by Bayern but his legacy remains. Barca played to Pep's tune while Bayern's style of play, under Jupp Heynkes last season was based on pace, fast transition and closing down the opposition. Given that Bayern went onto win the Champions League a few weeks later and beat a team in Borussia Dortmund, that play in a very similar style the point was that elite level football tactics had moved on from Tiki-taka and Guardiola's way was already dated.
The reality is that football, tactics and methods of play aren't like flares: they're not hot one minute and not the next. They develop and evolve over time and upon Guardiola's arrival he set about finessing their tactics and despite some key injuries has produced a team that at its best looks every bit as good as last season's treble winners. At the conclusion of the first half of the season, Bayern enjoy a seven point gap over second place Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga table and a twelve point gap over the most recent challengers of Bavarian dominance, Borussia Dortmund. And this has been achieved despite playing a game less than the all but one of the rest of the league because they missed the final fixture as they were in Morocco winning the World Club Cup.
In Germany, it is very common for clubs to sign players without much input from the head coach. However, before Guardiola
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