How Bayern can challenge in Europe once again

Bayern Munich is Germanys largest club and is one of the best in Europe. A winner of 25
Bundesliga titles, Bayern has also won 5 European cups and 17 German cups.
Bayern also became the first ever German club to complete a treble winning the Bundesliga,
DFB-Pokal and the UEFA Champions League in 2012-13 season with Jupp Heynckes as coach.
When Pep Guardiola took over from him in the summer of 2013, Bayern once again were
expected to win everything. But things havent quite gone that way. Despite winning the
Bundesliga twice, the DFB-Pokal once, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup,
Champions League success still eludes the Bavarians. Bayern crashed out in the semi-final
stage in both 2014 and 2015 losing to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Bayern supporters, in spite of their trust in Pep, are becoming impatient and are hoping
2016 will be the year when the Bavarians conquer all again.
So what does Bayern need to do to become a force to be reckoned with?

Tranfers
Bayern has been quite active in the transfer market over the past few seasons. Martinez for
bought for a club record 40 million euros in 2012 along with Mario Mandzukic and Dante.
Mario Gotze and Thiago were bought in 2013 for a combined 62 million euros. Robert
Lewandowski, Mehdi Benatia, Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Juan Bernat were brought to the
club in 2014. In the same period, Mario Gomez, Emre Can, Xherdan Shaqiri, Toni Kroos, Luiz
Gustavo and Mario Mandzukic were sold. With the summer transfer window opening on 1
july 2015, Bayern will get the chance to further strengthen their squad for the coming
season.
But what areas do Bayern need strengthening?
1. Wings:
Ribery and Robben have arguably been the best players for Bayern for the past few
years. But how much longer can Bayern depend on these wing wizards? Ribery
turned 32 in April and Robben turned 31 in January. Age is starting to catch up with
these two stars and their bodies have not been able to cope with it. Ribery made
only 23 appearances all season compared to 38 in 2013-14 while Robben made 29
compared to 44 in the previous season. Injuries have limited their playing time
considerably. With both these players approaching the twilight of their careers,
Bayern need to plan for the future.

i) Angel Di Maria: Bayern have been linked with the Argentinean for the past
month. No doubt Di Maria is a world class winger, but does he fit into Peps
system? Even if he does, is Bayern ready to pay upwards of 50 million for a player
who had a pretty lacklustre 2014-15 with Manchester United? He made 32
appearances but scored only 4 goals.
If Bayern do decide to splash the cash for Di Maria, they would acquire an
extremely versatile player. Di Maria is adept to playing on both the wings as well
 as in the midfield. With his explosive pace, trickery and vision, Di Maria can easily
replace Ribery or Robben. If played in the middle of the park, his pace and vision
and his ability to take players on, he can provide the much dynamism that Bayern
require. All this, provided he settles in quickly.

Di Maria created more chances per 90 minutes than both Robben and Ribery in
2014-15 but had a lower take-on and pass completion rate. Being only 27, Di
Maria has age on his side and is yet to enter his physical prime. If he settles well
into Peps system, he can be for Bayern what Robben and Ribery have been for
the past few years.
According to transfermarket.com, Di Maria is valued at 65 million euros.
But with Louis van Gaal ready to give Di Maria another season to prove himself,
the chances of this transfer happening seem bleak.

ii) Yacine Brahimi: The Algerian winger was first linked with the Bavarians when
he played against them in the UCL Quarter finals in May 2015. Brahimi made 42
appearances across all competitions for Porto last season scoring 13 goals in the
process. He is a primarily a winger who likes to cut inside from the left onto his
stronger right foot, but he can also play as an attacking midfielder behind the
main striker. He was one of the standout players for Porto and only Jackson
Martinez scored more goals than him for the club.
Only 25 years of age, Brahimi can be a long term replacement for Ribery on the
left wing. He can also play on the right or in the centre as his left foot is equally
 strong. He is a good dribbler and pacy. He needs to work on his finishing and
crossing. With age on his side, Brahimi can develop into a world class winger.
According to transfermarket.com Brahimi is valued at 16 million euros but he has
a 33 million pound release clause and Porto arent willing to sell him for less.
Brahimi has expressed his desire to play for Bayern in the past so there is a 50-50
chance of this happening.

iii) Sadio Mane: Having signed for Southampton in summer of 2014 from Red Bull
Salzurg, Mane took the Premier League by storm scoring 10 goals and setting up 3
more in his debut season. Primarily a winger, he can also play as a number nine.
Before moving to Southampton, he scored 45 goals in 87 appearances for Red Bull
Salzburg.
He also scored the fastest ever premier league hat trick in 2 minutes and 56
seconds in the 6-1 demolition of Aston Villa.
The Senegalese international is only 23 years of age and has a bright future ahead
of him.

According to transfermarket.com, Mane is valued at 14 million euros. Having

scored against the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal, Mane has been touted for big
things. Bayern need already established wingers and Mane, only 23, could be
 brought in as a future prospect but will have to settle on the bench for the first
couple of seasons which might hamper his development. But if given sufficient
game time, he might better his numbers. There have been reports of Mane having
caught Peps eye, but a transfer looks unlikely right now.
iv) Douglas Costa: The 2014-15 season has been one where a lot of good things have
happened for Douglas. He made his international debut for the Selecao and was
one of the best players for FC Shakhtar. Douglas Costa is primarily an attacking
midfielder but can also play on the wings. He scored 5 goals in 34 appearances all
season.
There have been rumours that he has already been transferred to Bayern for 35
million. However there has been no official confirmation by the club.
Eventhough Douglas is a good attacking player will decent pace and dribbling
ability, he is not the player Bayern need. Bayern already have a plethora of
midfielders. This would suggest that Bayern might buy him to play on the wings
but like Gotze, Costa is not a natural winger. Unless Pep decides to let Gotze
leave, Costa will probably have to settle for a place on the bench.

Other areas that need to be assessed are wing back and central defence.
On the left, Bayern have David Alaba and Juan Bernat who have been performing well.
Both are young, energetic and technically astute players. Alaba is slowly developing
into one of the best left backs in the world and is extremely versatile having played as
a centre half and in the middle of the park. Bernat played 47 games last season, the
most by any outfield player at Bayern. Defensively strong and good at moving forward,
Bernat could make the left back spot his own for the coming season if Pep decides to
play Alaba as a midfielder.
With Weiser having left for Hertha Berlin, Bayern have only Rafinha on the right. The
Brazilian has been a decent defender and has gone forward a lot, but he in no Philipp
Lahm. The Bayern captain is still one of the best fullbacks in the game as he showed in
the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Pep should move Lahm back to his original position giving
the team more defensive solidity. Lahm will turn 32 in November, and if he gets
injured again like last season, Bayern have a problem. They need someone better than
Rafinha at full back if they are to challenge for the Champions League again. Darmian
is someone who can be brought in as an upgrade on Rafinha. The 25 year old Italy
international is defensively stronger than Rafinha. He made almost twice as many
successful tackles as Rafinha every 90 minutes.
Rafinha definitely offers more going forward, but as Lahms understudy Darmian can
learn from the best and improve his attacking instincts. According to
transfermarket.com Darmian is valued at 8 million euros, which is a steal given how
Clyne is costing upwards of 15 million. Darmian is one player Bayern should bring to
Allianz.
Moving to central defence, Bayern does have the depth. Boateng, Benatia, Badstuber
and Dante are all good centre backs with Javi Martinez also capable of playing as a
centre half. Over the course of the last season however, Badstuber and Benatia were
plagued by injury and Dante has not been the same player he was when Bayern
bought him.
Dante, who turns 32 in October, was a rock during the treble season but over the past
year he has become more of a liability. His dip in form began with Brazils 1-7 loss to
Germany in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Dantes lowest point in the past one
year was definitely when he was substituted just 32 minutes into the game on
matchday 24 against Hannover. He is most likely to leave in the summer.
One player Bayern can bring in to strengthen their defence is Aymen Abdennour. The
25 year old Tunisian international was instrumental in Monacos run to the UCL
Quarter finals. Defensively strong and good in the air, he even scored in the 2-0 win
against Zenit in the final group game in the Champions League. According to
transfermarket.com, Abdennour is valued at 10 million euros. If he moves to Bavaria
and Benatia and Badstuber remain fit, then Bayern will have four good centre backs
giving them strength in depth which is needed over the course of the season.
Tactical Stability: Pep has been known to continuously tweak his formations. Over the past
two seasons, Bayern have changed formations multiple times during games. This does make
them unpredictable, but this also makes them vulnerable. Continuously changing the
formation not only creates a doubt in the opponents minds, but sometimes also confuses
the Bayern players. The suicidal high lines that Pep has deployed numerous times and
unproductive continuous passing are two things he needs to address. Boateng and Benatia
are not the quickest of centre halves and a high line leaves them susceptible to attacks.
The centre of the park is another area that needs to be addressed. Alonso and
Schweinsteiger are in their 30s. Schweinsteiger spent a large part of the season on the
treatment table and Alonso declined during the second half of the season. If Martinez stays
fit, Bayern can revert to a 4-2-3-1 with Schweinsteiger/ Alonso partnering Martinez with
either Thiago or Gotze in the hole behind the striker. This would provide a better cover in
front of the back four.
If Bayern address all these issues, they can once again become a force to be reckoned with.
Here is how the team can line up for the coming sesason:
Injuries: Injuries played a major role in the Champions League last season. With Robben,
Ribery, Martinez, Badstuber, Alaba, Lahm and Schweinsteiger spending considerable
amount of time on the treatment table, Bayern had to play almost half the season without
these key players. This exposed the lack of squad depth and without backups Bayern were
left exposed and eventually got knocked out in the semis. If they key players can remain fit
all through the season, the Champions League trophy can be brought to Munich again.