The club are of course pursuing the reasons, and the solution, more avidly than anyone. Defender Philipp Lahm even inadvisedly went public with a few suggestions of his own, the upshot of which was a meeting with the management and a hefty fine.

What's working at Bayern, what isn't?

Lahm has since issued an apology, but the debate rages on, inside the club and at large. So what is the problem at FC Bayern right now? Is new coach Louis van Gaal really making too many changes on both the tactical and personnel fronts? What has been working well for the team under his charge, and what less so?

All in the mix

"We're going through a process”, Louis van Gaal often says. It involves seeking out the optimal mix for the team and it is not being done by half-measures. Van Gaal has used 22 different players in his starting line-ups over the first twelve matchdays of the season. Alexander Baumjohann's first and last start to date was at Hoffenheim on matchday 1. Jose Ernesto Sosa was in the first team against Bremen the following week; the forward has since returned to Argentina. Breno, Andreas Ottl and Martin Demichelis have all likewise had a single starting appearance this season, although injury is to blame for that in the case of Demichelis.

The regulars

One of the main critiques the coach has faced is that he is constantly changing both the personnel and the system he deploys on the pitch. On closer inspection however, the former point carries little water. Van Gaal has put eight players onto the pitch every time they have been fit for Bundesliga duty this season: Jörg Butt, Holger Badstuber, Daniel van Buyten, Philipp Lahm, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller and Mark van Bommel. Remarkably, the two youngest members of the squad, Badstuber and Müller, have played in every match, with Badstuber ever-present from the off.

Ribery and Robben

Are Bayern overly-reliant on Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben? There are some interesting statistics on that one: matchdays 4 to 6 produced three successive victories, over Wolfsburg (3-0), at Borussia Dortmund (5-1) and at home to Nürnberg (2-1). Those were also the only three games so far in which both players were on the pitch together. Furthermore, the wins against Wolfsburg and Dortmund are the two games Bayern have won by more than a single goal thus far – thanks again in no small part to their explosively talented Franco-Dutch duo.

No playmaker as such

Van Gaal's system of choice in the past has more often than not been 4-3-3. This not being best-suited to the strengths of the squad he inherited, the Dutch coach opted to prepare his troops with a 4-4-2 set-up, deploying a 'diamond' midfield. Ribery was earmarked to pull the strings in the traditional playmaker role. Unfortunately however, the French international missed the whole of the pre-season due to injury, giving Baumjohann the opportunity to fill the role in the campaign opener at Hoffenheim. He has not seen a minute of action since. Jose Sosa was the nominal linchpin against Bremen, while on matchday 3 Miroslav Klose slotted uncomfortably into the position at Mainz. Using a playmaker also failed to earn Bayern victory against either Hamburg or Stuttgart. The only success they chalked up was a 2-1 home win against Frankfurt, when Bastian Schweinsteiger filled the hole behind the two front men. Overall then, deploying a traditional "number 10” has not been working out for Bayern – not least because they have no-one on the books who actually is a traditional number 10.

Seven systems

Process and settling-in period notwithstanding, seven different systems in twelve matches adds up to a lot of tactical chopping and changing. After Bayern had drawn their two opening matches, van Gaal shifted from 4-4-2 to 4-4-1-1 on matchday 3 at Mainz. Bayern lost 2-1 and there followed three games with the coach's preferred 4-3-3 system, due in part to the arrival at that point of Arjen Robben from Real Madrid. On matchday 7 at Hamburg, Bayern ran out in a 3-5-2 formation, which van Gaal adjusted more than once in the course of the contest. 4-2-3-1- had its day against Köln, followed by a punt at 4-4-2 with a flat midfield away to Freiburg. The team then returned to the diamond variation against Frankfurt and Stuttgart, while in their most recent outing at home to Schalke it was back to the traditional 4-4-2 once more. One factor which stands out is that it was when the most significant structural changes were undertaken that the team suffered their two league defeats to date: in Mainz where, among other things, Danijel Pranjic joined Klose in midfield, and at Hamburg where, having won three on the trot, Bayern switched from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2.

The one that has worked

Most Dutch coaches prefer to operate a 4-3-3-system. Van Gaal anticipated doing the same at Bayern München, but when he arrived the team lacked the personnel to play that way at the highest level. That all changed with the acquisition of Robben. The record champions ran out against the current champions, Wolfsburg, in a 4-3-3 formation on matchday 3. Robben came on as a half-time substitute and 45 minutes later, he and Ribery were the toast of Munich after giving the Wolves a second-half roasting. A week later, Bayern dished out a 5-1 thumping to Dortmund in their own back yard and they made it three in a row with a narrow 2-1 success against regional rivals Nürnberg. All three victories were achieved deploying a 4-3-3 starting formation, as was the 3-0 Champions League success at Maccabi Haifa. Bayern also put on an excellent first-half display against Juventus when playing 4-3-3. The match ended 0-0, but they struggled after the break – and after changing formation again...


Fatih Demireli / translation Angus Davison