The Bundesliga season 2010/11 just ended, with Borussia Dortmund winning the league, but with some remarkable statistics from Bayern Munich, who by all accounts have had a very disappointing season:

• Best team of the second half of the season
• 50 Goals in the second half of the season (only four teams shot more in the ENTIRE season!!!)
• 20 goals conceded in the first half of the season, 20 goals conceded in the second half of the season

Essentially the only change between the first half of the season and the second half of the season was the availability of three players:

• Arjen Robben: only returned from an injury sustained during the World Cup for the second half of the season, scoring 12 times in 14 matches, and adding 10 assists.
• Franck Ribery: injured in parts of the first half of the season, also played in 14 matches in the second half of the season, scoring 5 goals and 11 assists.
• Mario Gomez: not injured, but only got his first start of the season on Match Day 7! Before he had been brought in after the 70th minute five times. Shot his 28 goals  in the last 26 games, and 16 in the second half of the season. Imagine how many goals he might have shot if he had been starting from the first match of the season! 35 goals would have been possible, 33 or so likely.

Thomas Müller played most matches of the first half of the season, but of course benefitted from the players above rejoining the team, scoring 8 of his 12 goals in the second half of the season, as well as 8 of his 13 assists.

Nonetheless, it was Bayern’s defense (or lack thereof) that resulted in this disastrous (in comparison to their – and everybody’s –  usual expectations) season, and they need to bring in at least one top notch central defender, one right or left back (with Lahm taking the other position) and find a successor for Butt in goal (which apparently will be Neuer, which would settle that position at Bayern Munich for the next 10 years and is easily worth the 20 Million Euro that he’ll supposedly cost).

Unfortunately this was all already very clear after they lost the Champions League Final against Inter Milan last year, but they made none of these transactions, so let’s see if they get it right this time. There offense is not far off from the quality of Real or Barcelona, but their defense is light years away.