Bundesliga 2016-17: Ancelotti MUST deliver success

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  • Bundesliga season preivew

    The 2016/17 Bundesliga season kicks off this weekend as Carlo Ancelotti prepares to move Bayern Munich on from the Pep Guardiola era.

    Meanwhile, is Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund prepared to launch a serious title challenge?

    Here’s a look at the major questions ahead of the new campaign.

    HOW MUCH WILL ANCELOTTI CHANGE AT BAYERN?

    Appointing Carlo Ancelotti as Pep Guardiola’s successor was a common sense decision by a club who tend to get things right when it comes to recruitment.

    The Italian has considerable experience at high-pressure clubs in dealing with huge expectations from the stands as well as in the boardroom. His man management is legendary as he has shown countless times his ability to earn the respect of dressing rooms full of egos.

    In personality, transfer requirements and tactical preference he is arguably the most flexible ‘big name’ coach in world football.

    That final part is especially important because – Renato Sanches and Mats Hummels aside – the Italian is working with fundamentally the same squad who have had the Guardiola blueprint implanted into their nervous systems.

    Trying a drastically different approach is very un-Ancelotti and will likely prove unsuccessful – Rafael Benitez at Inter in 2010 post-Mourinho and Tata Martino at Barcelona in 2013/14 are two obvious examples. However, the flipside of this is that Dortmund, in particular, have started to show signs they are figuring Bayern out.

    Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery’s status as a world class wing pair is questionable but they remain strong personalities in the squad. Robben still has something to offer but Ribery is fast becoming a liability in his acts of ill-discipline. How their coach uses them could directly affect the overall dressing room dynamic and will be just one aspect of ushering a new era in at the Allianz Arena.

    ARE DORTMUND IN A POSITION TO CLOSE THE GAP?

    Given the 32-point boost they enjoyed in Thomas Tuchel’s first season in charge against Jurgen Klopp’s final campaign, you would have to say, yes.

    Tuchel added further intensity while also more variation to BVB’s play while also bringing out the hunger of many players who had grown too comfortable under Jurgen Klopp.

    However, as Dortmund have grown accustomed to, positive seasons always come at a price: €94m to be precise, with the sales of captain Mats Hummels, Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who led the Bundesliga in assists with 15 plus midfield anchor Ilkay Gundogan.

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    Those three key players have been replaced by some of European football’s best up-and-coming talent: Portuguese left-back Raphael Raphael Guerreiro, Norwegian attacking midfielder Emre Mor, French forward Ousmane Dembele and Spanish gem Mikel Merino.

    All are frightening prospects, how quickly they blossom is a different matter. Tuchel also has added more sure-fire, immediate bets in Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle.

    Dortmund will undoubtedly be brilliant to watch, score a huge amount of goals and the progress of the aforementioned quartet will be fascinating, but do they have the defensive capabilities to ensure defeats at middling teams like Cologne, Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt don’t happen again?

    CAN LEVERKUSEN JOIN THE PARTY?

    Leverkusen boast the most settled squad of last season’s top four; with no departures of any real substance, as Christoph Kramer was always re-joining Monchengladbach, while adding German forward Kevin Volland (below) from Hoffenheim, highly-rated Austrian centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic from Dynamo Kiev and the dependable midfield legs of Julian Baumgartlinger from Mainz.

    Their points totals since 2012/13 read: 65, 61, 61 and 60, which is brilliant consistency but there is confidence around the club Roger Schmidt’s side can now move up a level and compete, not on equal, but certainly similar terms with the big two.

    From front to back they are extremely strong; with a style that mixes stoic defence with rapier-like counter-attacks. And if Javier Hernandez can maintain his goalscoring form, they’ll surely come close.

    Joachim Low continuing as Germany coach was also extremely important to their stability, given Schmidt was one of the leading candidates to replace him.

    HOW GOOD WILL RB LEIPZIG BE?

    The experiment at the Red Bull Arena will be watched with interest as the Austrian energy drink’s 2009 purchase of the club formally known as SSV Markranstadt, languishing in the fifth tier, has now reached the Bundesliga.

    They’ve been the sixth-highest spenders of the summer window, investing more in their first-team squad than heavyweights Schalke and Hamburg. However, while that speaks volumes in terms of their ambition, their financial capabilities have never been in doubt and they need to deliver on the pitch.

    The signs are that this is a long-term project, as the club have primarily bought under 23 while employing Ralph Hasenhuttl as manager after he led Ingostadt to an impressive 11th last term playing some fine football in the process.

    Sporting director Ralf Rangnick has kept the bulk of the promotion-winning squad together, meaning if Hasenhuttl’s methods can be adopted, German football’s most disliked club can continue to progress. Survival will the first step but a mid-table finish should be within their grasp.

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