BAVARIAN MACHINE: The System of Jupp Heynckes

Rolands Juhna looks back on Bayern Munich’s successful 2012/13 season and analyses the work methods of Jupp Heynckes that led the German side to major success, winning a treble.

Rolands Juhna

25 May 2013 was probably one of the greatest days in the managerial career of Jupp Heynckes, which started back in 1979. On this day, Bayern Munich won its fifth UEFA Champions League title, the second in the career of the 68-year old German manager. It was the peak for Bayern. Heynckes not only brought some long awaited trophies, but also turned the Bavarian side into almost a perfect team. An indestructible, perfectly designed German juggernaut. A side that had an ice-cold discipline and the mentality of a winner.

Selection of players

German clubs are known for their wise management and cautious approach when it comes to activities in the transfer market. You won’t often see German clubs paying insane sums for big names who often turn out to be overrated. Of course, sometimes mistakes may occur, but those are rare exceptions.

The arrival of Jupp Heynckes in the summer of 2011 saw the departures of Miroslav Klose and Hamit Altıntop. Later that summer Bayern made three solid signings. The Bavarian side paid €22 million for the talented goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, €13.5 million for the former HSV man Jerome Boateng and €5.5 million for the Brazilian right back Rafinha. There was also the signing of Nils Petersen, who had had some great times in 2.Bundesliga with Energie Cottbus, scoring 25 goals in the 2010/11 season.

After finishing second in all competitions, Bayern’s management kept faith in Heynckes and the following summer saw some even bigger moves to Munich. The biggest one was the arrival of Javi Martínez from La Liga side Athletic Bilbao for €40 million.

The Basque club wasn’t really interested in letting their leading player go, but Martinez was keen to join Bayern and he even agreed on a salary cut of up to €2 million per year. The Bavarian side also paid €13.5 million for the Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic, who showed some impressive performances in Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. €9 million were paid for the Swiss wunderkind Xherdan Shaqiri, Borussia Mönchengladbach received €4.5 million for the Brazilian centre back Dante,and Bayern also took the opportunity to sign 33-year old Peruvian veteran Claudio Pizarro, who was a free agent at the time.

As you can see, Heynckes and the management of Bayern did a great job in those two years, strengthening all positions and creating some depth in their squad, a brilliant example how to build a champions squad properly. All of those transfers proved to be a success and all of those signings played an important role in Bayern’s success in 2012/13. What is even more important - you can’t say that those players were overpaid. Even €40 million for Martinez wasn’t a bad deal, as the World and European champion turned out to be a key player in UEFA Champions League matches, when Bayern most needed that strength in the midfield.

Effective tactical solutions

Heynckes needed just two seasons to build this almost indestructible and well-balanced 2012/13 Bayern model. In terms of defence, it was almost impossible for the opponent to make it to Manuel Neuer’s penalty area, or even anywhere near it. The Bavarian side successfully used the 4-2-3-1 formation, where the holding midfielders Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger could do what they did best, protecting Bayern’s backline and closing down all the free spaces that their opposing players could theoretically exploit in the initial phase of attack.

Of course, only 18 goals conceded (an amazing achievement) in the Bundesliga wasn’t just thanks to Martinez and Schweinsteiger.

It was also thanks to the effective pressing system that Heynckes brought to Bayern. Team work is the key. All the players have to work hard in defence, no matter what their position. Heynckes drilled his team in off-the-ball work, in order to close all those open spaces and make the opponent feel uncomfortable with great movement from all the players. You could often see that even Mario Mandzukic was involved in this pressing system. Constant movement and proper positioning helped Bayern to close down the opponents’ attacks early, without allowing them any chances to take a long shot or to cross the ball into the penalty box.

In terms of attack, Bayern offered some impressive versatility. There are many examples of teams that are quite narrowminded and it’s quite easy to predict their attacking moves. Some love to play possession-based football, trying to slice the defence open with that last pass. Some rely on crossing and the individual qualities of their star strikers. Heynckes had balance with Bayern. It was almost impossible to guess where the danger would come from. The Bavarians’ top goalscorer Mario Mandzukic scored just 15 goals in the Bundesliga, which isn’t an impressive number. But behind him there were Thomas Muller (13 goals), Mario Gomez (11), Franck Ribery (10), Bastian Schweinsteiger (7) and several others who scored between three and six goals; the team ended the season with 98 goals, which is an amazing accomplishment.

Work ethic and discipline

Psychology and the mental conditioning of the team often plays an even bigger role than tactics and the form of the players.

And Jupp Heynckes proved that he’s not only a great tactician, but also a great psychologist. He became a father figure for all of Bayern’s players and it was one of the key factors in the successful 2012/13 run.

Heynckes was able to handle all the difficult characters and all the egos that were brought together in the Bavarian squad.

Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Mario Mandzukic are just a few examples of complex characters. A few seasons earlier it would have been hard to imagine that selfish-minded players like Robben and Ribery could be transformed from stars who needed constant attention into selfless players. Both stars accepted the fact that they needed to work hard all 90 minutes, both in attack and in defence. And they did. You could see that they were very disciplined, calm and confident. No selfish actions, no extra dribbling or attempts to do everything by themselves. Heynckes found the way to get the maximum from them both – no wonder Franck Ribery was close to earning his first Ballon d’Or award.

The same went for Mario Mandzukic. The Croatian striker isn’t the type of footballer who will remain silent, if he isn’t happy with his role in the team. We all saw that he didn’t felt appreciated by Pep Guardiola, who clearly couldn’t handle the situation at the end of the season. And knowing his previous problems with handling egos, that’s not a surprise. For Heynckes, that wasn’t a problem. He easily found a common language with the Croatian and Bayern had a great rotation of three strong strikers. Mandzukic wasn’t even too worried about the fact that he was mostly spending his time on the bench in the final stages of the Bundesliga season, when there was a chance to win a Bundesliga top goalscorer title. He simply enjoyed the success of his team. No selfishness.

It’s a very hard task to create that great chemistry and feeling that you’re a part of a family. Especially in top European sides. You have to deal with different caprices all season long. Heynckes used his previous experience to find the right approach to every player in his team, whether a youngster or a veteran. He was respected and, I would even say, loved by them all. And you could see the difference. Bayern didn’t have any weak links in the squad. There were no indispensable players. It was a great T-E-A-M. 

Conclusion

You couldn’t ask for more than the success of that 2012/13 season from Jupp Heynckes. I believe he would have been able to bring another treble last season, if he had been given the chance to manage Bayern for one more season. I’m sure that the team would not have peaked too early, nor would the Bavarian side have lost to Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. There would be no pain or disappointment. It would be another story of success. I’m more sure about that.

However, Bayern has changed a lot. It won’t be the same under Guardiola, he’s a totally different type of manager than the 68-year old German was. He might have a bigger and more iconic status in European football, but he’s definitely not the one who will be remembered as the man who made dreams come true: dominance, perfect discipline and a treble.

Heynckes left Bayern and left the bar so high, as legendary pole vaulter Sergey Bubka did in his glorious past. It’s an amazing achievement. Bubka held his record for almost 21 years. Will the same happen with Guardiola and all the future managers of Bayern? Maybe. It’s because you can’t really break the system or the mentality that surrounds this club. Heynckes’ success was built on that German mentality and pedantry. It’s a part of German football DNA.

There’s no doubt that Jupp Heynckes will remain quite an underrated manager. He didn’t win that many trophies in his managerial career and his biggest success came in his final season as a manager. He was a late bloomer, not a young and charismatic manager, who won one trophy after another, as Mourinho or Guardiola did not so long ago. Those are different stories, different styles of work. Heynckes was a less fancy figure. Humble, but well-motivated. A true professional and a great father figure to Bayern players. Many managers have won more titles than Heynckes did, but very few have been good enough to build a perfect team. Bayern 2012/13 will remain a rarity. Something strong and very valued. For some football aesthetes, pure German beauty.