[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

yes. but i think there's a deeper side to that. let me see if this makes sense:

germany had to adapt some decades ago when they realized they were falling behind in football. klinsmann, actually, is the one who started it, and his buddy jogi loew is the one who finished it. here's an extensive article:

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/0...ning-goal-gif/

( eta: here's a long article on the academy revolution that started BEFORE klinsmann and the above article refers to: http://www.theguardian.com/football/...st-boom-talent or this one even better: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/...work-elsewhere <-- explains the tactical revolution at the academies)

now to me the pep hire is a kind of continuity on that. germans want to be at the cutting edge of football. and bayern as the most important team of the bundesliga and the core of the german national team wants to be in on the evolution of the game. they don't want to be left behind again.

notice for example how loew at the start of the world cup put lahm in the midfield, as pep had done to the great surprise of all. when that didn't work and he was returned to his position as a right fullback, many germans were relieved (and the team worked better). but that shows you the way loew is willing to take his cues from the high prophets of the game.

at the same time though, because of bayern's role at the center of things, they want to remain a german team--which is why they hired gotze (i understand guardiola didn't want him?) and why selling schweinsteiger was such a big deal.

so i can see why the pep experiment is the way they will want to keep going-- wherever there's innovation, or something... they'll want in. it's not just about winning games today but about staying ahead of everyone else in the long run.

so maybe klopp ha ha ha ha. he did do something "new". and he's german. and he'd reunite with gotze and lewandowski, but with bayern's resources this time... i personally wouldn't want him there because i think he's a kind of one-trick pony but i can see why he might be a strong candidate.

Great articles. Thanks.

I agree with the cutting edge argument and supported the signing of Pep at the time for that reason, but the difference between what he's doing at club level and what Klinsmann et al did nationally is that Pep's not in it for the long term. If his revolution is going to work Bayern will need to find a replacement with a similar vision who can bring his experiment to some kind of completion, because as it stands they feel like a team that's neither one thing or the other. The bigger problem there is if they even really want the kind of football that Pep's identified with to be their ultimate goal. For Klinsmann it made more sense, who doesn't like the kind of fast attack-minded football he promoted? Whereas what Pep represents (from a stylistic pov) is a bit more marmite, I think.