Heavy thunderstorms for lonesome hiker Guardiola

Pep Guardiola might feel like a lonesome hiker getting caught in the middle of a thunderstorm up in the mountains despite good weather being forecast. A few weeks ago all seemed to be prepared for a fairytale like farewell next summer when the 45-year old Spaniard moves to new pastures - presumably in the English Premier League after three years at Bayern Munich.

Now all of a sudden - and in advance of the first serious challenge in the Champions League in the round of the last 16 against the Italian club Juventus - things could well turn out into a nightmare like finish for Pep and the Bavarians.

While Guardiola is talking about his next step, mentioning that he needs a new challenge and "new enemies" (talking about new opponents in another league), unrest is increasing in Munich after Jerome Boateng is sidelined for several months after a muscle injury - the 14th time it has happened at Bayern. A majority in the club are blaming Pep Guardiola for the all annoying misery. So is most of the German media. So Pep Guardiola and his club were given an unappetizing foretaste of things to come up before the day of Guardiola's departure: the coach will come in for more and more criticism. Immediately after Guardiola announced his farewell at the end of this season, Bayern produced a new coach for the next season in the former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti (56).

That club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge blamed the federations like UEFA and FIFA for demanding that world class players like Boateng play too many games what with all the international tournaments and games with their national teams, can be seen as a not convincing tactic to distract attention. Guardiola is accused of either not training not enough or to using the wrong program (not enough stamina) and to have injured players return to training and matches too early. When Guardiola announced they would only play one single friendly before the kick-off of the second half of the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season, pundits were just surprised as many at Bayern Munich.

Now Guardiola has to take the next steps as Bayern plans to pave the way for a return of former team doc Hans Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfarth who left the club in 2015 after a dispute with Guardiola. Mueller-Wohlfarth is also the doc of the German national team and is seen at Bayern as a club institution. A new medical team had to be brought in. Despite that most Bayern players went to seek Mueller-Wohlfarth's advice and treatment when injured.

Bayern Munich previously made an investment of over five million euro for its medical set-up to help avoid new injuries. Now the club has to deal with a shock like the loss of their maybe most important player who can't be fully replaced.

Additionally, Guardiola will have to change Bayern's style after a kingpin in Jerome Boateng is sidelined. Until now the central defender's job was not only to stop the opponent's strikers but to propel Bayern's game forwards with long passes through a speedy back line operating well up the pitch. However without Boateng, Bayern will have to hang back a little more because they lack Boateng's ability to close the gap between midfield and defense and - maybe more important - the gap behind the defense and their goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The new kingpin of Bayern's game will have to be Xabi Alonso who successfully performed the role in the 2015 cup final - and several other important games. But Alonso lacks the necessary speed to match Boateng. Therefore Bayern will have to move its team further back on the pitch, which makes it more difficult to implement Guardiola's domineering game with a high defense (together with the midfield and the players down the flanks) pressurizing the opponents. A UEFA study blames unsatisfying internal communication between coaches and medical staff for the increasing number of muscle injuries in the Bundesliga. Professor Dr. Jan Ekstrand - the study's lead doctor - said: "Muscle injuries are not only bad luck. Coaches saying that just show they do not really have an idea of how muscle injuries happen."

When muscle injuries happened in Munich, Guardiola often accused the team doctors of not working fast enough. "When the docs say a player will be back in eight weeks, I want them back within seven." Now Guardiola - who was never considered to be a deeply emotional part of Bayern Munich - feels the power of a club that is built around a group of former world class players like Rummenigge, Matthias Sammer and the soon returning Uli Hoeness. And that in his last season, one thing counts more than anything else: The treble (or at least to win the Champions League) stands above everything. For now Guardiola has to admit: "We are not prepared for the Champions League right now". It is something everyone in Munich expects him to change - and quickly. Enditem