The Bayern Philosophy
A common stereotype about Germany's most successful club is that they buy their way to titles, steal the best players from other squads and make the league impotent to fight back. Many consider them to be the bundesliga equivalent of Chelsea or Manchester City. But while the millions Bayern may have splashed out in buying the likes of Neuer, Gomez, Ribery or Robben, money alone is by no means the whole story behind Bayern's success over the years. A rather more unsung part of Bayern's storied history, is their ability to breed and stick with the talent that emerges from their own youth academy. It more often happens that Bayern field more homegrown players than any other team in the league. A routine five members of Bayern's starting eleven and nearly seven players from the entire squad cut their teeth in Munich's Grunwalder stadium, where Bayern's developmental squad play their home matches. Together Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm, Toni Kroos, Diego Cont...