(Feature)Ancelotti wrestles for relief

Carlo Ancelotti has seen the rapidly changing moods of club officials and fans when expectations were disappointed, and his answer is "My butt is earthquake-proof".

The three-time Champions League winner faces a new test of his abilities in a crisis when Bayern Munich face Dutch PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.

One question stands in the middle of all-pervading discussion: Can Bayern Munich survive the change from the detail-obsessed Pep Guardiola to forbearing Carlo Ancelotti?

After two draws in the Bundesliga and the 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid, dark clouds seem to gathering in Munich's skies.

Early on in Ancelotti's first season in Germany, it is becoming obvious that a seamless transition from one famous coach to the next is wishful thinking - at least in the beginning. It is not only the poor results that have triggered the danger signs but also the way Ancelotti's team is performing on the pitch.

Not only Ancelotti has identified a "mentality problem" demanding a quick and instant change in the team's attitude. Club boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has also talked about games that "are not what we expect from a team like Bayern Munich". The total dominance of opponents propagated by Guardiola seems to have disappeared.

Newspapers like the Munich-based "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" are speculating on Ancelotti's lack of a tactical approach, mentioning that the Italian has only managed to win three national titles in his career so far and sees a team that cannot get rid of the things they have been told by their past master.

The daily additionally comes to the conclusion, it could turn out to be a problem that Ancelotti has never coached a team that had been through such a tactical brainwashing like Bayern did under Guardiola.

Bayern Munich themselves are talking about signs of a crisis.

Thomas Mueller admits the team might be caught in the middle on their way to converting from one belief to another. The two coaches are totally different characters with a totally different approach when it comes to football and guiding teams. The club's history of course is also telling a story of quickly changing moods as one or two good games will lead to a rapid climate change.

While Guardiola did not allow his team to leave his script, not even by an inch, Ancelotti allows his players more room for personal interpretation. He leaves many things to be decided on the pitch by his players.

Ancelotti is more forceful in training as he grabbed the shirt of Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches to tell him in no uncertain terms about what he should be doing.

Ancelotti's main task might be to win the Champions League and the Italian is talking about the important and decisive games yet to come next year, but concern is growing that he might fail to win the German title as well and, even more unsettling. The team might lose confidence ahead of the knock-out games in the Champions League in early 2017.

"We have to show total passion from the first minute on. We have to show that we are not happy and satisfied with our latest performance," defender Mats Hummels said. Ancelotti meanwhile announced that he will be making changes to his line-up.

Possible alterations could be a new tactical system rather than the 4-3-3 used so far. One change the Italian has already made is that the team and coaching staff will spend the night before the game in a Munich hotel instead of at home.

While French striker Franck Ribery is definitely sidelined due to an injury, Mueller could find himself on the bench for the start. However more likely is that Mueller will have to move to the center behind center striker Robert Lewandowski and Dutch winger Arjen Robben will play down the right flank. No matter who appears on the pitch in a Bayern Munich shirt, they will have to heed the warning of team captain Philipp Lahm.

"Thinking it is enough to do the job with less than 100 per cent will lead to us losing one-on-ones and in the end in losing the control of the game," Lahm said. Endit