Know Your Team in FIFA 09 – Bayern Munich – Part I – the Squad

FIFA 09 is THE football simulator of our time. Great graphics, realistic moves, improved AI, complete control of the players – it is all there. EA Sports produced another sport game masterpiece. But there is more. Each team has it's formation designed – emulating the real-football approach. However, besides the predefined formation, there are things that you should know when playing a certain team. Selecting the best squad and using the right tactics can be crucial in winning against a computer – or a fellow human opponent – especially if the opponent team is slightly better in the ratings.

If you are a Bayern Munich fan and you are playing FIFA you should know that this is a good team – almost as good as in reality :-). Do not be afraid of any opponent – including the mighty Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Although the Bayern Munich squad is relatively limited – and some might question the marks of players like Cristian Lell and Massimo Oddo, you still have enough options to overcome any opposition – with the use of the right tactics, of course. In this article we will look into the Bayern squad and help you in picking the best players – not necessary the highest rated, by the way. The formation will be, of course, Bayern's formation – designed especially to resemble the team style. It is a 4 – 4 – 2, with full backs making frequent forward runs, and pair of central midfielders and attackers positioned to "support" each other – almost side-by-side and only slightly behind and in front of one another, repsectively.

The left wing is where the attacks should come from – Phillipe Lahm supporting Franck Ribery – arguably the best player of the team. On the right flank changes should be made. First of all, put Willy Sangol at right back. His ratings are better than Massimo Oddo and he will contribute more to your team. Also, even if you are an admirer of Sebastian Sweinsteiger, he should be sent to the bench in FIFA 09. His performances are relatively weak – even though he is ranked 80. Possibly he would play better on the left side – but that LM position is taken by Ribery. Shifting the latter to the right is no good, as the Ribery-Lahm combination is really very important.

On the attack, put Miroslav Klose beside Luca Toni – that's what Jurgen Klinsmann does with the real Bayern. The tall, strong Toni and the versatile, quicker Klose are an excellent combination for scoring goals. What to do with Lucas Podolski, you might ask? He is exactly the player that will replace Sweinsteiger on the right flank. Playing Podolski as RM would be very beneficial to your attack – especially having in mind that you should probably be playing with defensive mentality on - as will be shown in the second part of BM tactics.

Not surprisingly, changes are not needed here. Demichelis and Lucio are the best choice as central backs, potent enough to complete with almost every striker. Van Bommel will be helping the pair in the defensive tasks, providing strength in midfield. Ze Roberto is the on-field manager, making frequent runs towards opponent penalty area. He can also take long shots – the accuracy of Ze Roberto's strikes in FIFA 09 is outstanding.

In my personal opinion, Michael Rensing is better in FIFA 09 than in real life – so no need to think twice here when keeping him in goal.

So, this is what your starting squad should look like: Reising, Lahm, Lucio, Demichelis, Sagnol, Ribery, Ze Roberto, Van Bommel, Podolski, Toni, Klose. That's all. You are ready to start the game. But there is more – you should use the right tactics. Those will be discussed in the next article.

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