Don’t forget the formation

By: Luke | October 12th, 2009

Louis van Gaal has got a lot on his plate these days. Two volumes are apparently required to properly cover his football greatness, although I think I’d still rather read two paragraphs from Hans Meyer. Luca Toni may have had his suspicions on the topic, but if Johan Cruyff is to be believed, LVG may be facing a medical emergency not involving Olic, Ribery or Robben.

But inevitably, it is to the newly rechristened Säbener Krankenhaus that attention must turn, to figure out just what team our forgetful, writer’s cramped leader can string together.

First of all, the official word on Ivica Olic has turned out worse than expected, as he will be out for six weeks. With Ribery expected to miss the next two, and a target date for Robben not yet in the offing, it seems unlikely Bayern can go forward with the 4-3-3 at all for the time being.

So what are the alternatives?

a) The early season 4-1-3-2 is a possibility with the composition of the roster. But we would be relying on Braafheid/Pranjic for a lot of upfield movement. And, if the goal is to work Mark van Bommel slowly back into match fitness, this probably isn’t the best way to do it.

b) The more or less 4-2-3-1 of the Juventus match is perhaps the best option with an eye towards the visit to Bordeaux. Schweini could move up on the left, though Robben’s spot, which was taken by Olic in the match would be more up in the air.

c) How about a good ol’ 4-4-2. As LVG played it pretty much exclusively with AZ last season, he’s not philosophically barred from it. Maybe the weak link in this approach is that I think it would somewhat stifle Thomas Müller’s creativity.

d) 4-3-3 to the death! Maybe I’m putting LVG too much in the box, and he could come out with Klose, Gomez and Müller across the front. Stick Schweini on the right for once (sure seemed to work nicely in Moscow), and roll the dice with Pranjic on the left side of the midfield (might as well get minutes for what we paid).

Aren’t you proud I got through this whole speculation without even mentioning Sosa? But, if there’s one thing LVG has shown it’s that he also has about 2 volumes worth of surprises to show, because I don’t think I’ve seen a lineup yet this season where I wasn’t surprised about at least 1 starter..