Having watched the Champions League final three separate times now, it’s become ever so clear that Inter Milan were, for lack of a better word, superior in their tactical guise to Bayern Munich. Jose Mourinho, playing his first contest in what is (presumably) his new digs, showed the world that, if given the time and space to do his own thing, he can lead a major player to glory. That should surprise no one, and yet, many could have been put off in midweek by the quotes coming from the other dugout. That said, let me put in perspective a few things.
1) Louis van Gaal talked a big game without actually delivering the goods.
For whatever reason, van Gaal made a big to do about leading a team that was always an “attacking” outfit and that he would be playing against a “defensive” team. While Inter may not attack like Barcelona, Arsenal, etc., they can control a contest when they feel like it and are very effective with the system they choose to employ, which, for Saturday, was a counter-attack oriented system that got away with a little Route One (longball from the back to the front) football.
What boggles the mind is that the team sheet that van Gaal introduced was, well, the exact same as Mourinho. That is to say, a 4-2-3-1 variant with Schweinsteiger and van Bommel laying deep, Robben, Müller and Altintop forward with Olic the target man. Effectively, his “attacking” team was no different than the “defensive” one that he claimed to be fighting against. Whether or not it was doubletalk or not, he effectively handcuffed his squad by playing directly to the strengths of Inter.
The end result was one that anyone with an understanding of tactics would have immediately picked up on: Bayern were heading for penalties if they could. There was little indication outside of Robben’s runs that anyone in the unusual red and white stripped kits had any intent to attack early. Lahm would come when he could but there seemed to be an anxiety from anyone else along the defensive six to move into the Italian defensive third. This, however, leads to point number two….
2) The two Inter goals were giveaways by the much more defensive looking Bayern.
If you are going to play effectively six men in defense from the get go, Route One football is something that should effectively be defended with a minimum of fuss. The fact that two men beat four with so little effort is a completely unacceptable defending job. The second was just as bad. With the defense practically running with Milito, all he needed was one slick move to undo the defense. True, Eto’o was prowling, but, again, a two against four break secured a goal. That one could have made it 3-0, had the attempt at the end of the first half from Sneijder on yet another shorthanded break not been right at Butt.
Is the Bayern defense that bad? The fact is that, at times, there were little more than four players forward for Inter at any given time. The fact that Pandev, Sneijder, Milito and Eto’o gave a compact six defenders that many problems is an issue that somehow was never fully exploited before then, probably because teams were more worried about the attacking Bayern Munich rather than the half hearted finals Munich. Speaking of the attack….
3) Franck Ribéry would have made little difference in the contest in the same formation.
Was it a necessary evil that Bayern were forced to go into such an unusual shape? Perhaps, but even in the second leg against Lyon, the same lineup (with Contento in place of Badstuber, who was in for Demichelis) was far more potent and against a side that had been quite good defensively in the knockout rounds of the Champions League this term. Yes, Lyon had Cris sent off, but even before then the Bavarians were on the attack and had created several good opportunities.
The question is, with Ribéry on the pitch, would that have changed much? The answer is a resounding no. Maicon was rarely even troubled by the mostly anonymous Altintop. Badstuber looked as comfortable on the ball as a man holding a copperhead by the tail. The left was a non-factor for the Germans. If Ribéry had been on the pitch, he maybe would have given Maicon some concern. But, it is worth remembering that Zanetti was also to that side in the defensive midfield. The result may have seen some advanced movement that way, but little would have come from it in the end. On the topic of placing Zanetti in the center of the field….
4) Jose Mourinho was tactically perfect.
Initially, I wondered whether or not the Inter skipper had lost the plot by placing Chivu out wide to deal with Robben. Some of those fears must have been felt by Italian supporters the first time Robben skipped him down the end line, but for the most part, Chivu was solid. When the yellow came out, Cambiasso took an interest in defending Robben as well. Why would he not have? No one else was in the area to defend. Müller only popped up a couple of times from the centralized spot between the two flanks. Olic was M.I.A. due to the alignment of the Inter defense. When both were forward, they hung close together and were easily blanketable by Samuel and Lucio. Altintop was not a factor. The defensive midfielders of Bayern never ventured forward. Had they, well, the odds of them beating Cambiasso and Zanetti were minimal.
Effectively, combined with the defensive tactics of van Gaal, Mourinho played the perfect formation. Outside of Robben’s bender and the chance right out of the gates in the second half from Müller, there was negligible attacking movements of worth by Bayern. Mourinho must have thought this a cakewalk compared to Barcelona. He also knew that his four attackers could do the job, which they did with a minimum of fuss and a lack of possession. In all, it leads to the final point of the day….
5) Inter were simply better that Bayern.
Easy to say in hindsight, but answer this question, those not linked to either side: who would you have predicted to win? Who did the analysts predict to win? The majority said Inter. They weren’t wrong for a reason. Knocking off the holders is no mean feat. To stymie that attack for 85 minutes is incredible and to do it with basically zero attacking impetus made a lot of people nervous when van Gaal went on his rant about styles, mainly because people thought that he was off his rocker to not recognize just how stifling that defense was.
In the end, the tactics were sound from Inter and questionable from Bayern. The players played in a raucous atmosphere that had several of the American commentators (Menafee, I’m looking at you here) soiling themselves. Yeah, it’s a very highly regarded contest and the fans were passionate to the fullest. Just wait until the African crowd piques its attention against Mexico on June 11th before saying it blows the World Cup away.
Since we’re on that topic, by the by, in the next few days there will be articles coming out about each of the groups in the World Cup. Once the 23 man rosters are released, podcasts will be forthcoming about the team selections and how they will stack up in each group.
Once play begins, the idea will be to add more podcasts with any luck on a day to day basis. That might be a little bit of a stretch, but that’s the current aim. Any suggestions are welcome at the bottom of the page, but that’s the plan for the moment.
Hopefully, the Champions League final has wet your football appetite for the buffet of contests that will soon be on display in South Africa.
