Football Season Guide

It is a make or break season for Josep Guardiola at Bayern Munchen and it could well be the final one for the Catalan coach who is yet to commit his future beyond the end of this campaign. While Bayern have breezed through to the Bundesliga title in Guardiola's two seasons in charge of the club, it has been the quality of football on display and their European form that has led to former players criticizing the Catalan coach. Both fans and the ex-players are not happy with the style of the play that Bayern have played under Guardiola over the last two campaigns and there was intense speculation that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season, though Guardiola made it clear that he will be seeing out the final year of his contract. With rumors of a switch to Manchester City at the end of the season refusing to die down, Guardiola will be aware that it will take only a small dip in form for the knives to come out once again. Bayern have once again spent big in the market this summer with Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal two of the biggest names to arrive at the club. With both Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben having had to deal with injuries in the last couple of seasons, Costa is expected to feature prominently along the flanks for Bayern and the new signing has already impressed in the Super Cup. Vidal is also expected to slot straight into the starting lineup and with Bastian Schweinsteiger departing for Manchester United and Joshua Kimmich lacking experience at the highest level, Vidal is expected to provide the Bayern midfield with some much needed muscle. Both Costa and Vidal are an upgrade from last season and are expected to lead a better challenge in Europe this season. Bayern is once again expected to secure the Bundesliga title with little trouble but domestic successes are to be expected and it is their form in Europe that will provide a realistic barometer to determine whether the season has been a success or another failure.