Bayern's anti-hero

Bayern Munich are like any club who have dominated a domestic league for decades, and who have enjoyed every minute of their domination: it has become a club that only its own fans can truly love.

Bayern have not only made enemies through their success and their attitude towards those who have dared to stand in their way, they have also rubbed neutrals the wrong way when success has eluded them. The arrogance they exude in victory is replaced by soreness and animosity in defeat.

It's no surprise then that Arjen Robben has turned out to be such a perfect fit at Bayern. The Dutch winger, as it turns out, is Bayern Munich personified.

Robben has shown in his first season in Germany that he is the best. Like him or loathe him - and many non-Bayern fans fall into the latter category - one has to admit that his impact since arriving in Munich last summer has been considerable.

Bayern's fortunes and formation improved by Robben

It is not a wild claim to suggest that Bayern would be out of the Champions League, and either second or third in the Bundesliga if it wasn't for Robben. It is no coincidence that Bayern can labor against mediocre opposition without him, and it's clear that they are a much bigger handful for opponents when he is fit and in the starting line-up.

Joining a Bayern team that was still finding its feet under new manager Louis van Gaal in August 2009, Robben looked to be a risky, knee-jerk signing - a hopeful antidote to the team's sometimes noxious early form.

Despite a few flashes of the old brilliance he used to regularly display with Chelsea, though, Robben had failed to consistently set Spain alight, and Real Madrid saw fit to send him packing after having spent big on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. Bayern's buying him on his name and former reputation alone seemed a desperate move.

However - an injury plagued autumn phase aside - Robben has been Bayern's best player by a mile this season and has proven to be well worth his 25m-euro transfer fee. He appears tailor-made for the attacking winger role that Louis van Gaal put so much stock into when he reinvented this Bayern side. An athletic and technically gifted player, Robben can run all day, turn opponents inside out with his ball skills, and finish in cold blood. Defenders in the Bundesliga and the Champions League alike have had a torrid time against him this season.

The game-changer and goal-getter

Robben is one of the few individuals in world soccer who can turn a game around all on his own. His best examples in a Bayern shirt have come in recent weeks. A month ago, Bayern were limping toward a title-battering 1-0 defeat at lowly Freiburg. Two late Robben goals later, Bayern had turned defeat into victory and were back in the hunt.

Then came the German Cup semi-final against Schalke. In a game devoid of any inspiration from either side, Robben's personal moment of enlightenment in extra time was the difference. With a burst of speed coupled with a focus so singular that it would have taken a sniper in the stands to stop him, Robben tore through the Schalke defense on the right wing, cut back at the byline, and curled an exquisite left-footed winner into the Schalke net.

His reputation as a dramatic match winner was sealed for good last week when Bayern were on the verge of elimination from the Champions League against Manchester United. Robben had only one thing in mind when Franck Ribery's corner swung over. And his whipped left-foot volleyed strike could not have been any sweeter in his mind's eye. In an instant, Manchester United were out and Robben had put Bayern in the semi-finals.

(In truth, they might not have even been there had it not been for his display in the quarter-finals against Fiorentina. It had taken the Dutchman until that round of play for him to come alive in the competition, but when Bayern needed a creative executioner, Robben swung the axe. A goal in each leg took Bayern through.)

If those flashes of brilliance weren't impressive enough on their own, Robben's goal tally for Bayern speaks volumes. In two seasons at PSV Eindhoven he managed 17 league goals. In three seasons with Chelsea, he scored a total of just 15 league goals. He scored 11 for Real Madrid in two campaigns - the same amount of league goals he has for Bayern in less than one. Robben has 14 in all competitions this season thus far.

He has been in such good form that Bayern have not faltered as much as it has in recent years when Franck Ribery has been off-color or out injured. In fact Bayern now appear to miss Robben more than Ribery when the Dutchman is unavailable, giving credibility to claims that Robben is a shoo-in for German Player of the Year.

And yet Robben remains, much like his club, loathed by many.

A reputation for arrogance and gamesmanship

In his years with Chelsea, Robben was not only disliked for the damage he did to other teams but because of the distasteful arrogance and gamesmanship which turned him into one of the most derided figures in an unloved team. It's a reputation that endures, if the hail of boos and whistles that greeted him at Old Trafford last week are anything to go by.

Feigned injuries, petulant assaults and dives of Olympic standard have been executed as deftly as his step-overs and fancy flicks throughout his career and Bundesliga crowds have begun to see flashes of this dark side to Robben's talent over the course of the season. If anything, Robben self-regard has become more obvious and his dismissive scowls at teammates' miscues more frequent since moving to Germany.

Despite taking the repertoire of play-acting roles he perfected in England to the more melodramatic stage that is the Spanish Primera Division, a notorious incident from his Chelsea days remains his finest thespian achievement - and his detractors' most damning piece of evidence against him.

After being denied a goal by a robust challenge in a bad-tempered league clash at Anfield, Robben and Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina exchanged words at a distance of approximately a meter. Suddenly Robben fell to the floor clutching his face. Reina's arms never left his sides and yet the Liverpool keeper was shown a red card for violent conduct. Chelsea went on to win the game.

Just as opposing teams have been put to the sword by his brilliance, many a rival crowd has been forced to endure the less savory aspects of his character. Liking Arjen Robben may be a tall order, but recognizing his talent is painfully unavoidable.

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Matt Hermann