Kahn demands Bayern reaction in Salzburg – Matthäus rebukes
Champions League
Munich (dpa) – When setting up the group picture in front of the Munich Corona vaccination tram, a photographer called Oliver Kahn, but “please don’t look so grimly” at the cameras. The Bayern boss replied quickly: “I was just thinking about Saturday,” Kahn replied with a smile.
No question: Bochum’s 2: 4 watschn has an effect on big FC Bayern. And in addition to the mentality debate, defensive work and individual defenses such as the Frenchmen Dayot Upamecano (23) and Lucas Hernández (26), who cost a total of 120 million euros, are increasingly being targeted by football experts.
CEO Kahn was still pricked by the embarrassing 2: 4 in Bochum during the advertising campaign for the corona vaccination at Munich’s Wettersteinplatz on Monday evening. The former goalkeeper titan expects a clear reaction from the current Bayern generation on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) in the Champions League against RB Salzburg.
Matthäus: “I feel sorry for the people of Salzburg”
“I assume that the players know that a first half like in Bochum is unacceptable. We fell well short of our potential,” he said just a few hundred meters from the club grounds. There, coach Julian Nagelsmann got his pros in the mood for the round of 16 first leg almost at the same time on the training ground after “a day to catch their breath” – and also with one-on-one talks, for example with Upamecano, who made a mistake too often.
Kahn is convinced that as a grandstand guest in the Red Bull Arena, which was sold out with 30,000 spectators, he won’t have to be annoyed again like he was in Bochum. “Sometimes it’s good that you can play in Salzburg a few days later to forget a result like this as quickly as possible,” said the 52-year-old ex-professional.
Kahn recalled the end of the DFB Cup at the end of October: “After the 0:5 loss in Gladbach we showed the right reaction and clearly won the next game. And I assume that will be the case now.” This was followed by two 5-2 victories in the Bundesliga against Union Berlin and in Europe’s premier class against Benfica Lisbon. Kahn’s former Bayern colleague Lothar Matthäus said to himself in Munich: “I feel sorry for Salzburg. FC Bayern don’t have two defeats in a row. I would be surprised if Bayern didn’t win.” He types a 2:0.
Kahn: “We’re conceding too many goals”
According to statements by national player Joshua Kimmich, Kahn does not see a mentality problem with the Munich professionals. “If you lose big, the mentality issue is always quickly brought into play,” remarked the Bayern boss. Kahn sees more of an attitude problem for defensive work: “I think that not only this season, but in recent seasons, we have been missing a lot defensively in the backward movement and in working against the ball.” Kahn clearly: “We concede too many goals.”
This is where coaches and players have to start, “that we have to work against the ball with more discipline and more passion. mistakes – and internationally even more so – are punished mercilessly,” warned Kahn. Nagelsmann should again deploy a three-man defense in Salzburg. “We have to solve things differently. It just can’t be so sluggish in everything,” he said.
Matthäus also shot himself verbally at the defense during an advertising event (Interwetten). “The big goal is to win the Champions League. The defense has to increase,” warned the 60-year-old.
Matthäus specifically reprimanded the central defenders Upamecano and Hernádenez, where the “price-performance ratio” was not right. The ex-Salzburg Upamecano, brought from Leipzig, wobbles too often and quickly seems “like a foreign body”. He’s been there for seven months now and hasn’t shown enough: “How much time should you give him?”
World champion Hernández also has “deficits”. He fouls too much, is sometimes too slow. “He was the most expensive Bayern player, so more is required,” said Matthäus about Hernández, who was brought in from Atlético Madrid in 2019 for 80 million euros. However, he does not yet use the word “mistaken purchase” for the two Frenchmen, said Matthäus.
In the case of world champion Hernández, he also looked at his top salary. “The salary limit was raised with Hernández,” Matthäus remarked. Everyone begrudge the outstanding world footballer Robert Lewandowski his top salary. But other Bayern stars would not accept it if a Hernández received more than them. A year after defense chief David Alaba (Real Madrid), national defender Niklas Süle is also going to Dortmund in the summer.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220214-99-119226/4