Guardiola has a tough act to follow

Marc Fox

If David Moyes is considered to be taking on a somewhat challenging task by replacing Sir Alex Ferguson in the Manchester United hot seat, spare a thought for Pep Guardiola.

Since agreeing to take the reins from Jupp Heynckes at Bayern in January, Guardiola has watched passively as his new side have secured a record-breaking 23rd Bundesliga crown with six matches to spare, turned over his former employers by an aggregate 7-0 scoreline in the Champions League semi-final and then capped off a remarkable season with the European title.

The words of Heynckes, the outgoing coach who's retiring after three stints as manager of Bayern spanning 26 years, were similarly uncompromising after Saturday's Champions League final victory over compatriots Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

"My successor will take over a perfectly functioning team," proclaimed Heynckes, only the fourth coach to win the Champions League with different teams after guiding Real Madrid to the European crown in 1998.

"We know Mario Goetze is joining us and I don't think Robert Lewandowski is hanging about too much either.

"Of course the club will have to prove they can continue to achieve these things. But I think it's possible that a new era of European dominance might have begun, under the aegis of FC Bayern."

Allianz Arena, Munich. — Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Domestic dominance has already been demonstrated this season under the smooth Heynckes. Bayern dropped just eleven points in the league this year to secure a record 23rd Bundesliga title with six matches to spare.

Furthermore, the Bavarians have even been suggested to be the finest domestic champions of all time in some quarters of Germany after they finished a massive 25 points ahead of second-placed Dortmund.

For Guardiola, consecutive Bundesliga titles would seem to be a minimum requirement, especially given the deconstruction of closest rival Dortmund's attacking players with Goetze having already penned a deal to join Bayern in the summer and Lewandowski expected to follow his team-mate.

According to Owen Hargreaves, the former England international midfielder who moved to Munich from Canada as a teenager and spent a decade at Bayern, the German champions are the blueprint for a successful club.

"If Bayern are not the best-run club in Europe, you would struggle to find a better one," Hargreaves stated in the run-up to the Champions League final.

"You have to say they're No 1. That team is as good as you'll find.

"I'd be shocked if they didn't steam-roller everything over the next few years. The only issue is complacency."

All this places Guardiola between a rock and hard place.

It would be almost impossible for the Spaniard to better Bayern's results this season given their resounding scorelines home and away in all competitions.

However, in contrast to the stereotype of German efficiency, Bayern displayed some gloriously attacking raids (as did Dortmund it must be said) over the weekend.

Where Guardiola takes the current Bayern side from July must have even the master tactician squirming as his sabbatical in the US draws to a close.

The obvious counter for the former Barca boss is that no team has successfully defended their European crown in the Champions League era - not even his Barcelona side whose wins over Manchester United in the 2009 and 2011 finals were sandwiched either side of Jose Mourinho's success at Inter.

Guardiola will also recall that Munich did not look quite so all-conquering in the early phases of this season's Champions League, nor did they impose themselves on Dortmund at Wembley for the first half-hour.

Therefore, he'll likely conclude that improvements can be made, and that in Goetze and Toni Kroos - considered the jewel in the crown of all the talent at Bayern - he has two playmakers who could both fill the false No. 9 role popularised by Lionel Messi under Guardiola's tutelage in Catalonia.

Indeed, many feel that Kroos, who missed the Champions League final because of a groin injury, can become even better under Guardiola.

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