Spanish Revolution
Hey, look, you can see Bastian's semi
Since Pep Guardiola's arrival at Bayern, the club have signed four Spanish players (is this even a lot?) Thiago Alcantara joined in 2013, and Juan Bernat, Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso followed this summer-this adds to Javi Martinez, Pep and staff amounting to 10 Spainards. Compared to the past, Pep has signed 2x experienced Spanish players in the last 3 transfer windows.
Diversifying the Bavarian Image
We've all wanted to
Bayern signed six senior players this summer, but only one (Sebastian Rode) was German. Among their six sales, half (Toni Kroos, Diego Contento and Lukas Raeder) were German. This follows the summer of 2013 in which four Germans were sold and two (one of whom has since left) were brought in.
As of now, the current Bayern squad still contains more domestic players than those of any foreign country. Among the 28 first-team players, 12 either already do or are eligible to represent Germany at international level, there's also 12 countries represented in Bayern with two Brazilians, an Austrian, a Dutchman, a Dane, a Frenchman, a Moroccan, a Pole and an American.
Tiki-Taka Is DONE
And Goetze is excited
False nines and slow, meticulous passing in a possession-based system were the name of the game for Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and for at least some of his time as Bayern head coach. But now it's become quite clear that he's breaking away from the philosophy he adapted from his Dutch coaches at Barca. In fact, he is quoted as having said "I hate tiki-taka" in Marti Perarnu's book Herr Pep, according to AS.
Bayern's tactics have reflected a non-tiki-taka style in the season thus far, with Guardiola having moved to a more vertical 3-4-3 formation. And his transfers seem to suggest he intends for that policy to stay.
Uli Hoeness Is Already Missed
Brought to you by Kroos' bulge
During Uli Hoeness' presidency, Bayern became well known for being brutally effective in the transfer market and in business overall. Since his imprisonment on charges of tax evasion, not all has been perfect at the club in their negotiations with players.
The prime case is the sale of Toni Kroos to Real Madrid, which never would have occurred under Hoeness' watch. In January, all signs pointed to the player expecting a salary in the €8-10 million range.
more words about stuff at the source.
None of these opinions are mine, I just needed my pedi to dry