Ribéry And Toni Out - A Blessing In Disguise?

When Franck Ribéry was carried off the pitch on a stretcher in the 7th minute of France’s 2-0 Euro group stage loss to Italy, Bayern Munich fans collectively held their breath. Fortunately, what at first appeared to be a horrible injury ended up sidelining Ribéry for just 3 months. However, the bad news continued to roll in for Bayern fans, as prolific hit man Luca Toni sustained a mild calf strain during the preseason.
Ahead of Bayern’s season opener at home against Hamburger SV, there were serious questions as to whether or not the Bayern offense would be able to produce. Having scored twice in the opening minutes, Bayern proved fully adept when it came to scoring, although their defense let them down in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. With Toni set to feature in Saturday’s match away to Dortmund and Ribéry likely to return within 3 weeks, Bayern fans haven’t long to wait before they see two of last season’s greatest stars back on the pitch. And yet, after last Friday’s offensive performance, it seemed as though Bayern hardly missed their superstars.
Could it be that the absence Toni and Ribéry was in fact a blessing in disguise for the Bavarians? There is much evidence to the affirmative. Just two years ago saw the departure of talismanic playmaker Michael Ballack from Säbener Strasse 51. In Ballack’s place was left a massive void that the rest of his former team could not fill as Bayern failed to qualify for the Champions’ League for the first time since 1995. After touting Julio dos Santos as Ballack’s replacement only to see the Paraguayan midfielder play just five times for Bayern, manager Uli Hoeneß realized his mistake: he had allowed Bayern to become too dependent on one player who simply was irreplaceable.
Having learned his lesson, Hoeneß pledged to never allow Bayern to become too reliant on the contribution of one player. And yet, last season saw Bayern return to their old ways, although they had two stars that did all the offensive work. Last year, Toni and Ribéry combined for 35 of Bayern’s 68 Bundesliga goals and provided a combined 12 assists. It thus does not come as a surprise that, when Bayern were without the creativity of Ribéry, their offense was often uninspired and stagnant. The records will show that, in the 6 Bundesliga matches Bayern played without Ribéry, Bayern were able to stay on par with their average of two goals per match.
However, Toni featured in four of these matches and was the scorer of five goals in this short time period. In fact, Toni’s goals during the absence of Ribéry often resulted from outstanding individual effort rather than good teamwork and creative play. In limited play this season thus far, the Bayern attackers have been particularly prolific in spite of the absence of Toni and Ribéry: after their four-goal performance in the DfB Cup against Erfurt, Bayern managed two goals in their Bundesliga opener against Hamburg. The draw at Dortmund, while disappointing, produced another goal at a tough arena.What’s more, Bayern have been fast in transition and active in their attacking third, creating more probable scoring opportunities instead of lofting hopeful balls into the penalty area as they often did last year. Instead of attacking up the flanks and sending crosses into the box, Klinsmann’s Bayern sees wide players move inward as they approach the penalty area, leaving far more options: wingers can dribble into the box, cross into the box, lay the ball off to a fullback, shoot, or pass to the center for a 1-2 through-ball.
With all of these options available, defenses are less likely to foresee a developing play. The end result is that, in order to score goals, Bayern do not require an amazing Toni header or Ribéry beating four or more defenders: instead, they are able to manufacture goals with the use of nearly any of their players. The apparent ability of Bayern’s offense to cope without their superstars is an enormous breakthrough. Many fans have been disappointed with their team having conceded three goals to a 3rd division team (Erfurt) and for having wasted an early 2-0 lead against Hamburg, but that is not the fault of Bayern’s offense. Instead, repeated blunders by right back Christian Lell, combined with the lack of Martin Demichelis (injury) to partner Lucio in central defense have been huge setbacks.
Indeed, it is not the lack of Toni and Ribéry that is hurting Bayern at the moment: rather, it is the lack of defenders Willy Sagnol, Marcell Jansen and Martin Demichelis that is keeping Bayern off their best form.