Sammer have some work to do ahead of the new
season to ensure Bayern can challenge for the
Champions League next season
By Peter Staunton
Bayern Munich, domestic double winners in 2014,
won 'only' the Bundesliga title last season and,
following a chastening Champions League semi-
final defeat to eventual winners Barcelona, there
has been an inquest into this squad's suitability
for a triple title chase.
However, it was a run of injuries on an
unprecedented scale which meant Bayern were
caught short right at the season's most critical
juncture. At full strength, the German record
champions remain a match for any team in Europe
Barca included. But facing Messi, Suarez and
Neymar without their own star names put a
distance between Barca and what Bayern could
muster over two legs.
Last season's big summer signing Medhi Benatia
was among those whose fitness could not be relie
upon for the full season with his breakdown in the
DFB-Pokal quarter-finals eventually prompting
coach Pep Guardiola to re-assess the position of
long-standing Bayern club doctor Hans-Wilhelm
Muller Wohlfhart.
Elsewhere, David Alaba, Arjen Robben, Franck
Ribery, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez, Bastian
Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm all missed
sizeable chunks of the season meaning Guardiola
was more reliant than he would have liked to be
be on new faces like Juan Bernat and Sebastian
Rode.
Major alterations are neither required nor expected
at the Allianz Arena this summer. So long as
Bayern do not encounter injuries on such a scale
this season they should be able to meet their
upcoming season objectives.
However, in Mario Gotze, Benatia, Martinez and
Thiago, Bayern have recently re-acquired the habit
of one major summer outlay. Executive board
member Jan-Christian Dreesen admitted that the
club could easily afford to spend €100m on one
star name in the transfer window.
TRA
Bayern's long-standing tradition of picking off the
best of the Bundesliga could yet materialise this
summer if Kevin de Bruyne is added but any mov
for Borussia Dortmund's wantaway midfielder Ilka
Gundogan is off. While the player himself admitted
that he would be interested in pursuing further
talks with the Bavarians, Guardiola's side have
cooled their interest due to the excessive wage
demands of the Germany international.
Nonetheless, Bayern are known to be keen to add
some pace to their midfield and have been
considering a move for Manchester United star
Angel Di Maria. The former Real Madrid winger
endured a difficult first season at Old Trafford but
Bayern have so far been unwilling to match the
price set by United, who would demand as much
of the €75 they paid for him as possible. With Xab
Alonso and Bastian Schweinsteiger noticeably
slowing down last season, though, Guardiola woul
welcome the options provided by Di Maria in the
centre of Bayern's team. His adaptability would
also provide some cover and competition on the
wings for Ribery and Robben.
De Bruyne, the Bundesliga's player of the season,
attracted the interest of Bayern with his level of
performance for runners-up Wolfsburg but one of
his representatives this week disclosed that the
Belgian is ready to sign a massive new deal to
remain at the Volkswagen Arena for the foreseeabl
future.
Bayern are also admirers of Torino central
defender Kamil Glik and right back Matteo Darmia
with the latter's name well established on the
radar. Darmian would make a good replacement
for Rafinha, whose defensive contributions last
season were not altogether stellar.
More fanciful names to be mentioned are Antoine
Griezmann of Atletico Madrid and Felipe Anderson
of Lazio, who has had a fine season. However,
those two could be regarded as Bayern players for
the future rather than in the short term.
Promising Stuttgart midfielder Joshua Kimmich , so
far, remains Bayern's only confirmed summer
transfer although options around the pitch will be
bolstered with the loan returns of Pierre Emile
Hojbjerg, Julian Green and Jan Kirchhoff.
PLAYERS
The permanent transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri to Inter
where he spent the latter half of last season on
loan, has been confirmed but there will be no
mass exodus from Sabener Strasse this summer.
Claudio Pizarro, a somewhat reliable if immobile
back-up striker, is out of contract and probably
will not be offered new terms while the contract of
Mitchell Weiser , who has failed to develop after
signing as a promising teenager, has also been
allowed to expire.
Central defender Dante, who was substituted after
only half an hour of a league match against
Hannover due to ineptitude, endured a shockingly
poor conclusion to the season and was, at one
stage, tipped for the exit door. However, the player
himself is on the record this week as saying his
future belongs to Bayern. His contract runs up to
2017 and, despite the reported interest of
Manchester United, he could now stay.
More unlikely would be the departure of Bastian
Schweinsteiger . Following Bayern's difficulties in
midfield during the season, an area of the field in
which they are regarded as slow, Schweinsteiger's
name has been linked with the exit door. Press
reports in England continue to link the 30-year-ol
World Cup winner with Manchester United given
his links with former Bayern coach Louis van Gaal
However, from a Bavarian perspective,
Schweinsteiger is not expected to depart.
It was a difficult season for the golden boy of
German football, Mario Gotze, who, at key times
and with huge injury trouble blighting the club,
could not even force his way into the starting XI.
However, the 23-year-old will likely be given at
least another season to prove himself.
Just about the whole football world knows that Pe
Guardiola's Bayern contract is set to expire in
2016 with plenty of interested clubs expected to
declare their interest as the season goes on.
However, Bayern remain optimistic of retaining the
services of, perhaps, the most innovative coach in
world football beyond next summer.
Guardiola is attempting to implement not only a
system to win matches at Bayern but an entire
shift of the playing culture at the club in order to
carve out a distinct identity for Bayern. It is
working in the sense that they do not have a
legitimate challenger on the home front but
marrying that new style to success in the
Champions League has not been so easy.
He has had to defend his methods and fight in
front of the press for the right to retain his job
following the high-profile defeats to Real Madrid
and Barcelona in the Champions League and has
also had to fend off constant speculation linking
him to Manchester City. He has said "200 million
times" he will see out his contract at Bayern at th
very least. It has not been plain sailing for Pep at
Bayern but he is as good as unsackable.
HOW TH
If Darmian comes in, he could relegate Rafinha to
the bench and provide better defensive cover on
that side than the Brazilian.
To quicken the pace through midfield, David Alaba
will play there with Philipp Lahm and Thiago
providing the expert ball-retention skills and
forward passing capabilities respectively. However,
Alonso and Schweinsteiger will also have their sa
in midfield.
Up front, Di Maria could displace Franck Ribery
when not fielded through the centre of midfield
while Thomas Muller will play plenty in a variety o
positions even though he is not included in this
lineup.
Mario Gotze might well have to settle for a place
on the bench again.
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