Pointing out the obvious, Bayern are the best team in the world and also the best possession based team in the world. Barca used to have that crown until Pep Guardiola left so as Pep Guardiola has taken over the best fast paced attacking team in the world (from last season) then there isn't any contrasting team that can challenge Bayern. Last year when Bayern destroyed Barca it wasn't really a contest of the two best in form (contrasting styles) as that Barca team wasn't the same once Pep Guardiola departed so we need a team to challenge Bayern, a fast paced counter attacking team and then we can see just how good this Bayern team is and if Pep Guardiola can combat that style. Real Madrid are potentially that team but they have issues in defence but still be interesting to see Bayern V Madrid or if Man City continue to improve then next season we can see if their fast paced style could defeat the possession game, although they bottled it this year agaisnt Barca.
"Pointing out the obvious, Bayern are the best team in the world and also the best possession based team in the world." And at OT, Pep showed he can turn that Munich side into the Barca side that can have possession as nine tenths of the law, and 0% of the score. The Barca style should be added to the Munich core style, not the other way round (which is what Beckenbauer et al have been bemoaning in recent weeks) .
David Moyes believes Manchester United's transfer targets will not be affected by their Champions League exit. (Source: BBC Football website)
Barcelona's one tactic is to pass around until one of the CBs gets drawn out and slip a ball through for a 1on1 with the keeper, they literally never do anything else and I find it tedious, would be a shame if Bayern started that dross as well
"would be a shame if Bayern started that dross as well" Hence all the Barca-fication stuff in the German football press. The past 3 CLs have shown the limitations of the Barca game (great as it is) .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-claws-serenity-Bayern-Munich-shattered.html Then you have this http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25647442 Pep is clearly the modern day master of tika-taka as some would think its easy to walk into bayern or barca and create that style, with the players he has, but to also manage players and get them believing in a system and make them passionate also, means for me is a great manager, but he doesn't deserve the criticism as if he changed his ways to play a style he isn't comfortable with and bayern struggled, he would get sacked! I actually don't find tika-taka that boring (unless it was Avb and trying it with the wrong players). But even with Bayern and their success they still seem to demand classic entertaining football, although it be intresting to find out what the bayern fans think? are they just enjoying this success or do they miss the previous seasons where Dortmund and Chelsea got one over them before their success last year.
"Pep is clearly the modern day master of tika-taka as some would think its easy to walk into bayern or barca and create that style" The tika-taka game was years in the making at the Barca academy. Nobody expects it to be replicated on day 1 anywhere. The point is that the "baseline" Munich play is already very good. So the expectation is that Pep would ADD to that baseline, not make the baseline a system that is now being found regularly wanting at the business end of the CL. Hence the sentiment in the German football press that he may be doing the latter and not the former. Time will tell on that one (the purists among us hope tis the former) .
If Bayern win the CL then Pep will say his baseline system of tika-taka was justified, but if they fail? will he adapt new methods and embrace the style of football that he spent years trying (and succeeding) to combat with his methods. Last season was a superb season for German football as you had Dortmund and Bayern playing the classic and expansive style of German football, brilliant to watch but both clubs would have found themselves looking on the tika-taka as the opposite, the enemy"! now Bayern find themselves playing such way, although they shouldn't be too surprised as they seeked out Pep.
How can Pep be getting the best from this group of players when they can clearly be nullified by the opposition getting men behind the ball? They have no plan B. Utd fell apart after going 2-1 up 80% of the way through the tie. If Utd's defence hadn't gone AWOL afterwards and presented Bayern with 3 soft goals, they would have struggled to turn it round. The other teams left in the CL won't do that - just as Chelsea didn't do it against Pep's Barcelona 2 years ago when his one dimensional team couldn't break down a well organised opposition. Like Utd, Chelsea were hardly setting the PL alight at the time down in 6th place.
The way Real's defence played the other night,i can Bayern taking them apart,i think they are alot better than people are giving them credit for,they were not at their best,but they still beat United
Hes getting the best out of the team in terms of adapting them to methods which are the polar opposite of the style they have played but only time will tell if thats also getting the best out of bayern as so far in the domestic league they have been unstoppable. Also don't forget the old Bayern way wasn't flawless, they got found out in 2011-12 also by Chelsea and Dortmund in the domestic league. I enjoy both style of plays for different reasons but out of the teams left, there isn't a great side to challenge Bayern unless we get a repeat of Chelsea parking the bus, although they struggle away from home and have been found out also.
I've just read that Chelsea could have a massive advantage in their semi-final if they draw Atletico, as Courtois couldn't play against them. Bit of a pisstake, really. Messi's being blamed for Barcelona's loss to them, which might not be that surprising, given the stat that I just saw. He ran one mile more than their least active player during the quarter-final loss. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? Only problem? The other player was their keeper!
He can play against them,but it would cost athletico 2.8 million a leg which they say they can't afford
Chelsea put a clause in his loan contract that says that Atletico have to pay them a large amount of money if he plays in a competitive game against them, according to reports. It ranges from €3-6m, depending on where you read it.
