Analysing the changes Pep Guardiola has made at Bayern Munich

How do you improve on perfection? Last season under Jupp Heynckes Bayern Munich became the first German side to win the treble. The task at hand for incoming manager Pep Guardiola may have appeared easy, because if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, right?

But as we know, that’s not how the Spaniard works. The former Barcelona boss was always going to try and stamp his own mark on the Bavarian club, he wants to do what looks impossible, make Bayern even better.

So how has Pep changed Bayern?

One of the most interesting moves Guardiola has made is to utilise Philipp Lahm in midfield. The German international is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world, but Guardiola see’s things differently.

“He understands the game. Not all players do. A lot of players understand his position. Philipp can play in all positions. Football is a game where people move and you have to decide in one second what’s going on in your position as well as all around the field, and what he decides in that moment is right,” Guardiola told TalkSport.

The holding midfield pair of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez were seen as a key part of Bayern’s successful treble winning campaign. So eyebrows were raised when the Catalan coach moved Lahm into the middle and disbanded Schweinsteiger and Martinez’s flourishing partnership.

However, the move into the centre of the park seems to have worked, with Lahm currently recording a Performance Score of 312 for his opening eight appearances. That score is only bettered by full-back David Alaba and Manuel Neuer in between the posts.

Lahm’s job is to keep the ball moving and start the play from the back and his passing accuracy of 93% will certainly help. Much like Sergio Busquets at Barcelona, Lahm will often drop in between the Bayern centre-backs, allowing the full-backs David Alaba and Rafinha to push forward and join the attack.

The use of Lahm as a holding midfielder also allows Schweinsteiger the freedom to roam forward and join the attack more often. A look at Schweinsteiger’s action area from the final game of last season’s Bundesliga shows that 13.85% of the 29-year-olds’ involvement came within his own half, with 18.46% of the midfielders action taking place in the oppositions half.

Bastian Schweinsteiger Action Areas v M’gladbach (Last Season)

In contrast, a look at Bayern’s last league game of this season shows that only 4.60% of Schweinsteiger’s action took place in his own half, while his action in the opposition’s half increased by 29.89%.

Bastian Schweinsteiger Action Areas v Leverkusen

A key feature of Bayern’s emphatic performance against Manchester City in the Champions League was their pressing game, a favourite tactic used by Guardiola at Barcelona. The champions of Europe won a large proportion of their successful tackles during the game in City’s half as they smothered Premier League side and won the ball back high up the pitch.

Man City Tackles Won v Bayern

The game at the Etihad also saw another one of Guardiola’s much-loved tactics, as he utilised Thomas Muller as a false nine. With a packed midfield and a midfielder playing as a striker, Bayern dominated the possession, enjoying a 66% share of the ball and completing 595 passes to City’s 255 passes.

As a team, Bayern’s possession stats of 63% and average pass accuracy of 88% from the opening eight Bundesliga games is marginally better than last seasons averages of 58% and 87%.

Although Bayern may not appear to have changed dramatically, evidence of Guardiola’s presence at the Allianz Arena is there for all to see. Whether or not the Spaniard can improve on perfection remains to be seen, but he’s certainly got a tough act to follow.

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