Pep Guardiola doesn't deserve to coach another season at Bayern Munich
When Pep Guardiola arrived at Bayern Munich in 2013, the super club had achieved new heights: the first-ever German treble. Manager Jupp Heynckes stewarded Bayern to the German Cup, Bundesliga and Champions League titles. Often forgotten, Bayern also won the German Super Cup for a perfect season in terms of trophies.
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Rather than carry forward the system and style of the team that reigned supreme over the continent, Guardiola insisted on changing the culture of a champion. Immediately, the manager brought in Thiago Alcantara to manage the midfield and help ease the conversion from a pacey, attacking side to one that relies on possession and control.
The coach imported the Spanish style of play, but the Germans have been unable to beat the Spanish clubs at their own game. In his first season in charge, Bayern lost 5-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals. In his second season, Bayern lost 5-3 to Barcelona in the semifinals, as Bayern's late flurry came after Barca tried to uncharacteristically park the bus. Against the Spanish sides in Europe, Guardiola's Bayern grossly failed to beat the competition.
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The narrative of Bayern needing to bring Guardiola in to beat the Spanish clubs is false. Under Heynckes, Bayern smashed Barcelona 7-0 in the semifinals en route to the famous treble. A season earlier, Bayern drew Real Madrid 3-3 on aggregate before winning on penalties to advance to the Champions League final, where it lost to Chelsea in Didier Drogba's most famous cup final.
Prior to Guariola's arrival, Bayern Munich had reached three Champions League finals in four years. Since Guardiola's arrival, the club has not returned to Europe's biggest match. Bayern may be playing lovely football, but Guardiola took a massive gamble when he changed the style and culture at Bayern. To this point, that gamble has not paid off.
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So, should Guardiola get a third season in Munich?
In his first season, Guardiola won the Bundesliga and the German Cup in stylish fashion. He also won the Club World Cup, but that honor belonged to Heynckes as much as it did to Guardiola, as the qualification for that tournament required winning the Champions League. Guardiola transformed the style of play and made tremendous strides. Overall, the first season under Guardiola should be deemed a success.
In his second year, the 44-year-old boss will finish with only a Bundesliga title in a season that was filled with promise but ended in despair. The German Cup is gone. The Champions League is gone. Also, Borussia Dortmund denied Guardiola the German Super Cup for the second consecutive season. Late consolation goals masked the inability to adequately challenge Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal. Everything considered, the 2014-15 season cannot be recorded as anything other than an absolute failure.
Obviously, injuries have played a part, as both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery could not take part in the semifinal defeat to Barcelona. Still, not winning the Bundesliga would have been more of an accomplishment than winning the Bundesliga in a season when Dortmund spent significant time in the relegation zone.
Based on the 2014-15 campaign, Guardiola does not deserve another season. If Bayern had been a flailing club when he arrived, one could commend the coach on the beautiful football style. However, Guardiola transformed Bayern Munich from being a relentless goal-scoring powerhouse that won every possible trophy into a club that can only celebrate a league title over competition that is regularly forced to sell its best players to Bayern.
Guardiola may get another season, but he doesn't deserve it.
Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. He has previously written about the 2014 World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup and regularly provides opinions on the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass.
