FC Bayern Forum

MUTU wrote:He is right though. We could have gotten this guy a few years ago and it would have been a steal.

In my opinion that turned out in our favour, because while we ended up having to spend a lot more money, we got Martinez.

MUTU wrote:

FCBayernMunchen wrote:

MUTU wrote:He is right though. We could have gotten this guy a few years ago and it would have been a steal.

In my opinion that turned out in our favour, because while we ended up having to spend a lot more money, we got Martinez.

Exactly, and Vidal turned out to be magnitudes of times better than Martinez. Vidal's currently 4th in the top scorers list in Italy with 10 goals, while Martinez hasn't even started as many Bundesliga matches. Last season, Martinez was a bit better than Vidal, but this season there is no comparison: Vidal is absolutely better.

We would also have saved some 27 million euros by opting for Vidal.

It is not the point. Vidal and Martinez were being considered for the same position, even though they are different players. Martinez's strength, apart from being a beast in the defensive role of midfield, lies/lay in his combination with Schweinsteiger. They completed each other and that was the biggest factor to the stability of our midfield (which in turn took a lot of pressure off our defence) and to the team as a whole.

I am 99% convinced that Vidal, whether or not he is better as an individual (he is certainly a more respected name), would not have had such an impact on Bayern.

MUTU wrote:

FCBayernMunchen wrote:in his combination with Schweinsteiger

You're still thinking about last season. Heynckes is gone and Bayern are since playing with different tactics. Now suddenly Martinez doesn't look good, while Vidal continues to excel.

Well, yes, because that's the only one in which trophies have been handed out so far.

It is true that Martinez hasn't yet excelled, but he has been a bit unlucky so far. He was injured a couple of times in a time when the whole team was adjusting to a new system in which his position was the one affected most. You could argue that he didn't play when he returned either, but he returned at a crucial point of the season. Now that he's had the winter break, I think we will see more of him, but we'll see.

Back to Vidal however, I do not see how he would fit in Guardiola's system either, at least not as the "1". What the team needs is a more defensive player, like Martinez himself. My regret is not that we didn't get Vidal, but that we sold Gustavo, because I think he would have filled that role well and would certainly have played a lot with our injuries.

EDIT: Also remember that when the whole team was struggling to get used to the new system vs Chelsea (with Lahm playing for the first time in his new position), it was a not 100% fit Martinez (who got re-injured during that game) that Guardiola trusted to stabilise the team, and it was him who ultimately made the difference (although in all honesty that has nothing to do with how good he is, considering he almost never scores).