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Eight days of humility. Not only did we get our proverbial butts kicked by 'Gladbach last Friday, then the Bayern PR team becomes the laughing stock of the footballing world with an ill-timed "new signing" press conference. Ah, another Facebook application! Just what I always wanted! Errrrrr... nope. I was, however, recovering from London and sleeping through the whole PR stunt. So, I wasn't really too bothered.
Yeah, so... Franck Ribery is back. And not a moment too soon. After a nagging back injury this week, and suspended before that, he is expected to start against the Wolves. Diego Contento is out with a broken toe. Like-wise, Daniel van Buyten with a broken foot. And, surprise! After "forgetting all the past nonsense", Jupp Heynckes has seen fit to include Breno in the squad.
My starting XI: Neuer - Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm - Schweinsteiger, Kroos - Robben, Mueller, Ribery - Gomez
Felix Magath's Wolfsburg, currently 9th in the table, managed to squeak out a win last week against 1. FC Koeln without their leading scorer, Mario Mandzukic. However, he's recovered and expected to start. With eight players in and three players out in this January transfer window, I think I'll rely on kicker.de for the Wolves starting XI.
VfL Wolfsburg: Benaglio - Traesch, Chris, Felipe, Rodriguez - Josue, Jiracek - Dejagah, Schaefer - Mandzukic, Sio
I expect to open up play a bit cautiously, as no one wants to make a mistake early on. And then gather collective heads-full-of-steam about 10 minutes in. I won't predict a scoreline, but I'll say the men from Munich win comfortably here. (Fingers crossed.) And damnit, Manu! A clean sheet would go a long way...
Auf gehts, Bayern!
You can follow Susie on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/fussballsusie
Comments
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Posted by Tony on 01/28/2012
Tell us about London... Besides, we have the smallest squad in the liga. Lineup is a boring matter for us.
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Posted by Chris on 01/28/2012
Hard to win,
no spirit, no fighting, Bayern have to improve!
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Posted by Susie on 01/28/2012
Tony----
I think so as well, but I was getting criticism for not writing more. So, lineups it is. :)
But, I am writing a piece about my London experience and was wondering if anyone wanted to hear about it....
Thanks, Tony! Now I know....
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Posted by Jason on 01/28/2012
Absolutely. We all have a common interest in Bayern, but it's fun to talk about other things as well.
I'm glad that Rafinha is getting the start and Boateng is in the center. That's the way it should have been all along. Maybe management doesn't like Rafinha because he is fiery, but honestly I think Bayern could use a little fire outside of Ribery.
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Posted by Susie on 01/28/2012
Jason----
That was a soft card on Raf today. Shame. Jerome will be back on the wing next week. And Robben will be pissed.
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Posted by Jack on 01/28/2012
Not our best outting, but we'll take the points. I agree that Raf's card was weak, and the ref should have booked more Wolves players. Especially the poor decision not to give a pk to Ribery. I'm also surprised they gave the last goal to Robben instead of Olic. Anyways, too bad that BvB won. Still tied with them.
Mia san Mia!
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Posted by grudnik on 01/28/2012
The reason they gave the goal to Robben is that the defender clearly got to the ball before it crossed the line. If Robben had not followed the play, the ball would not have gone in.
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Posted by BrklynBayern on 01/28/2012
The play wasn't terribly convincing, and VFL played about as well as they could. Good that Gomez got a goal. And, even though technically the goal goes to Robben, very positive for Olic. JH finally made the rotation with reasonable time as the lone striker, and Olic reinforced the move. I thought the Gustavo for Muller switch was interesting. The midfield opened up a little with Schweini hanging back deep and Kroos doing the attacking. With Schweini and Gustavo both holding Kroos had more room to move and find Robben and Ribery. Raf is tough which we need, but a bit of a liability with fouls. All and all it was a good win on several levels with room for improvement everywhere.
Hey Susie, a bit on how the English folk view the BL and Bayern would be cool. Did they make you sit in the corner, or were they interested in the game. They would have had to appreciate the speed and quality of the counter attacks.
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Posted by Stefan on 01/30/2012
Muller was aweful, I think Olic needs to get a chance and start ahead of him as he looked bright or gustavo shd come in and Kroos move up to CAM. Either way Muller is adding no value this season after such a brilliant last season, pity. Is Rafinha suspended for the next game?
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Posted by grudnik on 01/30/2012
Regarding Olic, keep in mind he came in fresh with 20 minutes to go, so he's obviously going to look bright against tired defenders.
I wouldn't call Mueller awful, but he definitely has not played up to his potential this season. It doesn't help that he is moved around from wing, to attacking mid, to bench.
Posted by Miguel on 02/24/2012
Interesting. From riadeng the United articles it sounds like Bayern's system plays better than a 4-4-2 should against a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation. However, could the same things that make Bayern better against a 4-5-1 make it worse againt a flat 4-4-2? For example: Demichelis not getting forward?If nothing else, it does seem to confirm that formations aren't rock/paper/scissors.
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About
Susie Schaaf is a footie-obsessed German-American with a Brazilian passport. She promises to be completely biased whilst eliciting as many chuckles from you as she can. When she’s not writing, you can find her pouring pints at her local or on an airplane to anywhere. If you’d like to swear at or praise her, she can be reached at susie.schaaf@gmail.com |
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