News Analysis: Bundesliga at half time: Creativity is the biggest trend
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E-mail Xinhua, December 23, 2014
Tactical flexibility makes you win: With half the 2014/2015 season played, finding an answer to every single situation on the pitch is the overriding trend in the German Bundesliga.
League leaders Bayern Munich is the shining example for flexibility to near perfection - some pundits are even saying, having no tactical-system is the system.
No matter how you look at it: Eleven points ahead at the top of the league, 14 wins in 17 games, no defeats, only four goals conceded - Bayern has set a new record in the Bundesliga' s 51-year history.
The top five of the Bundesliga are the leaders as well when it comes to tactical systems - despite having a first class squad. Bayern Munich, VfL Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach are the top four.
But even the clubs lower down rely to a large extent on tactical flexibility. In general: The Bundesliga has developed as far as tactics are concerned. It in the meantime has had a fundamental effect on the country' s UEFA country ranking which determines how many places a country gets in the Champions League. Whilst leaders Spain are sitting comfortably at the top, England in second is coming under pressure from third-placed Germany.
For Bayern Munich, the successful master-plan is no matter what system they play at kick off (4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2) - it will change - even up to the point where it is hard to tell, what system is in operation that particular moment.
As the Bundesliga is regarded to be a "pressing football league" , whereby teams try to regain the ball immediately after losing possession, it means teams find less space in midfield. Even playmakers have to track back and organize their teams.
Bayern additionally operates with different playmakers, meaning the creative side of the games rests on different (midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger, Xabi Alonso, Mario Goetze, Thiago who are supported by the wing backs/midfielders Juan Bernat and Rafinha down the flanks).
Defense and midfield are regarded as one unit as the back row of five quickly changes into a chain of three in the back to gain more thrust in midfield or even a row of four should one of the defenders have to mark one of two strikers in the opposing team.
Meaning: Being able to supply what is needed to keep the game under control as you don' t have to give up your defensive stability when one of your defenders has to follow an opponent' s striker into midfield - you can still count on a solid back row of four. Having the ball, the back row of five changes into a back row of three and the two other players move up to augment the midfield.
Most teams talk about the ability to change the defensive strategy when they don' t have the ball into an offensive one after regaining possession - turning defense into attack. Using these seconds effectively is the key for mounting successful counter attacks as the fundamental game philosophy is an active one.
Meaning: Be creative rather than seeking to win by destroying the game. Every game in the Bundesliga seems to be accompanied by coaches talking about turning defense into attack. And none of the top seven teams uses a destructive strategy to win games.
Looking back on the first half of the Bundesliga, many complain that Bayern Munich and their success that is turning the 2014/2015 league championship into a boring competition. But the Bundesliga is far from that.
The title might be in safe hands but the other three Champions League positions are hotly contested and the situation at the bottom is very tight with many teams in acute danger of being relegated.
It is so close that all the clubs from 9th down to 18th are in the battle to avoid the drop. Between Eintracht Frankfurt (9th/23 points) and Werder Bremen (16th/17) are only six points or eight to Borussia Dortmund (17th/15) and SC Freiburg (18th/15).
The Bundesliga table therefore changes nearly every match day which is a clear indication that the second half of the season will be a thriller - at least it will when it comes to relegation.
In the last years, teams like Eintracht Braunschweig, 1. FC Nuremberg or Greuther Fuerth all lost contact to those above them at an early stages of the season.
But not this time around, as many former top teams are in a very real struggle to avoid playing second division football next season. Meaning: No team has yet lost contract - the relegation battle therefore will be a thrilling and tight right up to the final whistle at the end of the season.
It includes clubs like Hamburg SV (14th), which has been a part of the Bundesliga ever since the league started in 1963, Werder Bremen (16th), the 2004 German Champions and 2009 cup winners, VfB Stuttgart (15th), the 2007 German Champions, and Borussia Dortmund, the 2011 and 2012 German Champions. Bayern Munich may be cruising at the top but there is still all to play for once the second half of the Bundesliga season gets underway after the winter break on January 30. Endi
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