“Ridiculous”: Bayern Honorary President Uli Hoeneß on possible play-offs, the absence of Neuer and RB Salzburg
Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß has spoken out vehemently against play-off games for the German championship in the Bundesliga. “That’s just a law against Bayern Munich. It has nothing to do with tension. If they don’t get any further with that, they decide that we can only play with ten men,” said the 70-year-old on the program “Sport and Talk from Hangar-7” on the TV station Hello TV Regarding the ongoing debate about changing the game mode: “I find that ridiculous. In the Bundesliga, whoever is the best after 34 matchdays and who has gone through thick and thin with his team should win the Bundesliga.” Hoeneß also spoke on Monday evening about…
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…the Bayern opponent from Salzburg: “They are known to us for very attractive, very fresh football. Many young players want to seize the opportunity to get to the top – with the risk of making mistakes. Excellent work is being done here. We won’t underestimate Salzburg .”
…on Bayern’s 4-2 defeat in Bochum: “I think the problem is that our players, when they read the newspaper, think they are totally superior, nobody can match them and that they are unbeatable. I heard that the atmosphere in the team is very good – maybe too good, there isn’t enough friction! That means you only play 75 or 50 percent against supposedly weaker opponents – and that’s no longer enough today. We lost 0:5 in Augsburg, in Bochum and in Gladbach. But when it came down to it and against strong opponents, they pulled themselves together incredibly and will play very well.”
…the new DFL boss Donata Hopfen: “The new managing director of the DFL thinks day and night about how to break the dominance of FC Bayern. And that’s when they came up with this idea. There are no play-offs in any major league in the world, not in England, not in Spain , not in Italy, not in France.”
…the general idea of playoffs to determine the champion: “There are knockout systems in the cup and in the Champions League, not in the league. And if you look at the game plan that we have anyway, at the end of the season when everyone is broken, in addition to the international matches – and we have five, Six, eight national players – still do semi-finals and finals, maybe with a return match – I think that’s a joke idea!”
…Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi, who is being courted intensively by BVB: “A very good player, who we already had with us as a youth player. The problem is: if you get a player like that, you have to show him perspectives. It’s easier for Dortmund. We have Coman, Sané, Gnabry and Musiala. Then you can make it difficult for him to understand: You get a regular place.
…the absence of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer due to injury: “That shouldn’t be used as an excuse. But: Manuel Neuer is the best goalkeeper in the world and even if he doesn’t have that much to hold onto, he’s very, very important to us as a captain and personality. We miss him. Sven Ulreich is a very good goalkeeper, but Manuel is Manuel. Our defenders know that you can return any ball to him in any situation, even in the worst of times – that’s a big advantage.”
…the offensive risk tactics of coach Julian Nagelsmann: “If you play with five offensive players, there’s a danger that you’ll get into trouble at the back. But: The defense starts at the front. In our good games, they attacked up front and then there was nothing going on at the back. But if you’re up front if you cover carelessly, you’ll have problems at the back.”
…Austrian Marcel Sabitzer, who has not yet been able to assert himself at Bayern: “He knows the coach well, he really wanted him. He just has to be patient, that’s something that a lot of people in Munich don’t have (laughs).”
…Fifa’s plans to host a World Cup every two years: “What nonsense! The World Cup is the easy competition, so I’m watering down this competition. We still have a European Championship, a South American championship, etc. ) slowly have to realize that there are only 365 days in a year.”