Ribery: Tactical changes necessary at Bayern

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery believes Pep Guardiola’s tactics will make the side even stronger this season.

Under Jupp Heynckes, Bayern often used a 4-2-3-1 formation, which brought success as the side won the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal last season.

However, Guardiola opted for a 4-1-4-1 system against Borussia Dortmund in the Super Cup defeat at Signal Iduna Park, suggesting this may be the preferred formation for the coming campaign.

Ribery, who made 43 appearances for Bayern in their treble-winning season, scoring 11 goals, believes a change is important to keep opponents guessing.

“Last season we won everything and if we didn’t make any changes, our opponents would be more able to adapt to us,” he told the Bundesliga website.

“The new system makes our game even harder to second-guess. We can change tactics mid-match or switch a few players around to give the opposition even more trouble.”

The France international, who arrived at the Allianz Arena from Marseille in 2007, explained he and his team-mates remain hungry for more silverware.

While the Bundesliga is the team’s priority, Ribery believes a strong showing in the Champions League is also important.

“It was an unforgettable experience. I woke up happy every day on holiday, just thinking back to our UEFA Champions League triumph,” he continued.

“The holidays were just the job to recharge the batteries. We’re well aware that every team we play are going to be even keener to get one over on us – because what feels better than to beat the treble winners?

“We want to win the Bundesliga again. That’s our priority, to show again who’s top dog in Germany. Furthermore we want to go as far as possible in the Champions League again.”

Bayern wlll get their Bundesliga defence up and running against Borussia Monchengladbach on August 9.