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Bayern Unhappy With Lewandowski's Criticism of Transfer Policy


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https://www.espnfc.com/bayern-munich/story/3201089/bayern-munich-ceo-rummenigge-unhappy-with-robert-lewandowski-comments

Bayern Munich CEO unhappy with Robert Lewandowski comments


Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has hit out at Robert Lewandowski for his criticism of the club's transfer policy.

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Lewandowski, 29, demanded Bayern sign more world-class players to compete with the world's elite.

"Bayern will have to come up with something and be creative if the club wants to keep bringing world-class players to Munich. And if you want to compete at the top, you need to have these quality players," Lewandowski told Spiegel Online at the weekend. "To date, Bayern Munich have never spent more than around €40 million for a player. In international football that has long since been more of an average [price] than a top price."

This summer, France international Corentin Tolisso became the German champions' record signing when he joined from Lyon for €41.5m, surpassing the €40m paid to Athletic Bilbao for Javi Martinez in 2012.

Lewandowski arrived at Bayern in 2014 on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund and has since won three successive Bundesliga titles. However, he has been frustrated by the club's lack of Champions League success in recent seasons.

Lewandowski added in the Spiegel interview that he believed money and success are now more important than loyalty in football -- a view not shared by Bayern CEO Rummenigge.

"It would be a shame if he sees things that way," Rummenigge told Bild. "Loyalty is in the Bayern DNA and important to our fans."
Lewandowski said he feared Bayern would be left behind if they did not invest heavily in the transfer market.

However, Rummenigge said: "We've had a serious and successful philosophy for a long time and enjoyed great success with that. Rather than Lewandowski, I share the viewpoint of the Chancellor [Angela Merkel], who says we should regulate and reduce the amounts.

"Clearly Robert has been affected by the PSG transfers. Nevertheless, he is employed by us as a footballer and earns a lot of money. I regret his comments. Anybody who criticises the trainer, the club or his teammates will immediately be in trouble with me personally."

Lewandowski, 29, hit the 30-goal mark for the second season in succession last term but one of his agents, Maik Barthel, bemoaned a lack of support in the race to finish ahead of Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the Bundesliga's top scorer.

Rummenigge was not ready to forget these comments either.

"After the Freiburg game in the second half of the season, he made incorrect accusations about his teammates that he didn't receive enough support," he said.

In the Spiegel interview, the Poland striker maintained that player power was on the rise, with players increasingly capable of forcing a move if they really wanted.

But Rummenigge played down this viewpoint and again blamed Barthel for stirring the pot.

"I don't think player power is that big," Rummenigge said. "Lewandowski can determine this himself by looking at his contract -- he's signed until 2021 without a buyout clause.

"Unfortunately his agent is often the 'spiritus rector' [guiding spirit]. This was again the case here with the interview deliberately organised without Bayern's knowledge. He is harming Robert."

Last season, Manchester United and Chelsea were both linked with a move for Lewandowski, with reports claiming the two Premier League clubs had already spoken to his representatives over a potential move.

This prompted Bayern to issue a statement saying Lewandowski is not for sale and threatening to go to FIFA if clubs made an approach.

Rummenigge was also critical of Thomas Muller, who recently addressed his frustration at a lack of game time in the media.

"What Muller said against the coach in Bremen was also not OK," Rummenigge said. "We need more efficiency and seriousness again. Dissatisfaction with being on the bench is OK, but no public criticism of the coach will be tolerated."

Muller has also said it is "possible" he could leave Bayern in the future and that he had considered a move to Manchester United two years ago.

 

 

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he's not said anything that's wrong though xD

Rummenigge doesn't like and probably isn't used to someone suggesting something that isn't in line with his thinking.

If the interview was conducted without Bayern's permission and the agent set it up sneakily or without club's knowledge then that's a bit of a dick move but for Rummenigge to then threaten him by saying 'Anybody who criticises the trainer, the club or his teammates will immediately be in trouble with me personally' is stupid. 

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Lewandowski is right on this. Bayern are buying players which are good enough to help every other top5 Bundesliga club, but not the kind of world class players which could help them against Madrid or Barcelona. That way they can win the Bundesliga 18 times in a row, but they will never make it to the CL final, especially since they are always out of form and missing key players about the time when they play the semi finals.

 

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I mean you can tell things arent going well when the team looks stale and void of ideas. Individual quality is the only reason for wins so far and that will suffice in the bundesliga against most sides but that is all. Overall i thought it was a good summer for transfers expect they never really addressed the major issue of finding a world class winger, as always a cheaper option was found ie James.  Lewy speaks his mind which im fine with, hes never been shy to criticize and in this case hes absolutely right. I have 0 problem with the signing of Tolisso, but when hes your major and most expensive signing something is lost here.  I was more concerned to read Müller speaking out, this probably doesnt bode well for Ancelotti. If things dont improve before the winter break i have a feeling he will be off. 

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11 hours ago, Viva la FCB said:

I mean you can tell things arent going well when the team looks stale and void of ideas. Individual quality is the only reason for wins so far and that will suffice in the bundesliga against most sides but that is all. Overall i thought it was a good summer for transfers expect they never really addressed the major issue of finding a world class winger, as always a cheaper option was found ie James.  Lewy speaks his mind which im fine with, hes never been shy to criticize and in this case hes absolutely right. I have 0 problem with the signing of Tolisso, but when hes your major and most expensive signing something is lost here.  I was more concerned to read Müller speaking out, this probably doesnt bode well for Ancelotti. If things dont improve before the winter break i have a feeling he will be off. 

You know more than me what´s going on obviously, but the impression I have is that Ancelotti is trying too hard to please everyone just to make everyone unhappy in the end. I don´t think he´s a very good tactician, his main strenght has always been keeping the dressing room happy, managing superstars´ egos and leaving them free to express their talent on the pitch. If he can´t do that, then he´s in big trouble. 

Also, the core got old, right? This kinda reminds me where Bayern was in the end of the last decade. Perhaps you need a ruthless coach like van Gaal (not the man himself! xD) to make a cleaning and promote and sign younger players. Who´s the last player you have developed?

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On one hand, a lot of Bayern's best players weren't huge transfers: himself, Boateng, Alaba, Kimmich, for example. 

On the other, they have seemed to skip serious re-investment in certain areas. Robben and Ribery were brought in for large sums at the time, and have been outrageously good buys for them - for years they had 2 players who often were considered as immediately behind Messi and Ronaldo in terms of quality. And this has been one of their biggest issues - trying to cope with them ageing. Guardiola was absolutely screwed in 2015 because they were both missing at a crucial point in the season.

They bought Costa for 35 million euros, and he performed amazingly, but tbh it seemed like any good, pacey forward would have improved Bayern massively, purely because they were crying out for someone to take the pressure off Robben and Ribery. I don't know if Costa was ever expected to be a true, long-term replacement for either of them. Likewise, they've brought in Coman, who has the potential, but I don't know if Ancelotti has been giving him the chances necessary for him to ever develop into the kind of player who could be important for Bayern long-term.

They've been trying to replace two extremely rare talents with cautious signings, both of whom only seemed to have any chance of paying-off under Guardiola. It worked with Kimmich: they bought a young talent for a small amount and now they've got their Lahm replacement, which otherwise would have been intensely difficult to find - but I seriously doubt that was their plan before Guardiola started playing him in defence. 

So I can sorta sympathise with Lewandowski. When Bayern were at their peak with him they were unlucky to not win a CL, and now Guardiola, Alonso and Lahm are gone, and Robben and Ribery aren't getting any younger, and they look well below the quality of a couple of years ago. And the Bayern board aren't willing to make instant world-class signings. 

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12 hours ago, El_Loco said:

You know more than me what´s going on obviously, but the impression I have is that Ancelotti is trying too hard to please everyone just to make everyone unhappy in the end. I don´t think he´s a very good tactician, his main strenght has always been keeping the dressing room happy, managing superstars´ egos and leaving them free to express their talent on the pitch. If he can´t do that, then he´s in big trouble. 

Also, the core got old, right? This kinda reminds me where Bayern was in the end of the last decade. Perhaps you need a ruthless coach like van Gaal (not the man himself! xD) to make a cleaning and promote and sign younger players. Who´s the last player you have developed?

 

12 hours ago, El_Loco said:

You know more than me what´s going on obviously, but the impression I have is that Ancelotti is trying too hard to please everyone just to make everyone unhappy in the end. I don´t think he´s a very good tactician, his main strenght has always been keeping the dressing room happy, managing superstars´ egos and leaving them free to express their talent on the pitch. If he can´t do that, then he´s in big trouble. 

Also, the core got old, right? This kinda reminds me where Bayern was in the end of the last decade. Perhaps you need a ruthless coach like van Gaal (not the man himself! xD) to make a cleaning and promote and sign younger players. Who´s the last player you have developed?

Maybe the biggest problem is going from one of the best tacticians around to Ancelotti is such a sharp u-turn that it looks worse then it is? Leaving them free is one thing, i think Ribery thrives in such a situation for example but right now when teams defend deep and are structured well, it looks like we have 0 ways to break through and are void of creativity entirely. Ill give it time but when Müller and Lewy are both speaking out about one thing or another already im not too optimistic because as you say Ancelotti's strength is supposed to be man management.

Partly agree, We've done some great transfer business with the likes of Süle who's more for the future while also cover now. Tolisso looks like a real gem, alot of talk of Goretzka joining for free in the summer. The last to come through our youth setup was probably Alaba which was the same time ish as Müller and Kroos. There has been a bigger focus in that area but it starts with coaching and Ancelotti isnt really one thats known to rely on youth. For example both Alaba and Bernat are out injured (both LB's) we have a youth player in Marco Friedl on the senior squad thats a CB and LB but instead of giving him any match time (so far im right,although 1 match) he will stay cemented to the bench and play Rafinha (a RB) out of position over him. 

Ancelotti was hired for one thing and one thing only; to win the CL. So its seems to be of two minds to be buying players like Tolisso's and Gnabry's and bargain deals like James instead of bolstering the squad with the likes of an Alexis Sanchez that instantly makes our starting 11 better and better equipped to achieve the goals laid out.

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  • The title was changed to Bayern Unhappy With Lewandowski's Criticism of Transfer Policy

Siding with KHR on this one, and in light of his shit attitude during today's match against Anderlecht Lewandowski needs to really cool his ass down. One of the factors in our successes as a club has been making smart transfers, and that includes being smart financially. We are not a club that mindlessly splashes cash left, right and centre like the sugar daddy clubs do. I absolutely would not want to see us becoming one of those contributing directly to these exorbitant transfer fees that only get worse by the day.

There is no lack of quality on our team at the moment. The only thing we need and didn't get this summer was a new winger. I also think the Costa situation was dealt with too harshly, we should have kept him here for this season. Looking at the last two matches in particular, what is lacking is teamwork and team spirit. You could feel the tensions on the pitch today, especially in the second half. Things aren't looking rosy and if they don't calm down soon it's going to be a long and awkward season especially as fans. We may have won today's match, but the attitude that some players showed towards each other and in general, Lewandowski foremost among them, was a disgrace. In the second half Lewy not passing it off to Robben when he was wide open on goal, then spending the rest of the match getting pissy whenever he's not given the ball and then acting moody when Kimmich got the job done and scored his goal instead of passing it off to Lewy (and considering who had the better shot not to mention that Lewy wasted how many chances throughout the match). Our successes under Heynckes and LVG didn't come from fuck tons of expensive, star-studded transfers. What we had then and what we're lacking right now is that ability to work as a team and each player understanding and accepting to work as a unit. We have the quality, but we're lacking the leadership and direction. A $200 million Euro transfer deal isn't gonna fix that. Part of it is the fact that like it or not we are in a bit of a transitional phase. With Basti long gone and Lahm now retired, we've lost a lot in the way of leadership. I'm not sure Neuer is as well-suited for the task as Müller honestly. Also Robbery are getting on, both want to keep playing like they did five years ago, but we also need to be bringing young wingers into the fold.

I agree with those in this thread talking about our youth development policies though, as I've been saying for years. The good news is a new academy facility was recently unveiled that looks pretty sweet. KHR's statements on the matter have been promising and it seems they've finally got it through their skulls that they need to put more emphasis on the academy again. We've also got some promising guys like Früchtl (maybe Neuer's eventual replacement?), Friedl, Benko and Dorsch. I'd like to see the latter three get some time this season, but Ancelotti isn't the type to take those "youth risks" unfortunately.

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I've always said that Carlo is just an ego-pleaser. Tactically limited but he makes the players happy and gets the best form out of them. Easier said than done, mind you. That doesn't take anything away from the man. Look at that Chelsea team of 09/10; nothing special on a tactical sense but Lampard, Malouda, Drogba, Terry, and a few others played nearly every match on top form; and that is why they scored over 100 goals.

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2 hours ago, Spike said:

I've always said that Carlo is just an ego-pleaser. Tactically limited but he makes the players happy and gets the best form out of them. Easier said than done, mind you. That doesn't take anything away from the man. Look at that Chelsea team of 09/10; nothing special on a tactical sense but Lampard, Malouda, Drogba, Terry, and a few others played nearly every match on top form; and that is why they scored over 100 goals.

Didn't things fell apart from him in the 2nd season? If I'm not wrong, Paul Clement left Chelsea in the second season and Carlo found difficulties without his assistant. The fact Clement is not by his side now could explain some of his struggles at Bayern. And I agree yeah, Don Carlo is a gentleman and a football legend, but tactically he leaves a lot to be desired. I think either Tuchel or Nagelsmann will take over Bayern next season.

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1 minute ago, El_Loco said:

Didn't things fell apart from him in the 2nd season? If I'm not wrong, Paul Clement left Chelsea in the second season and Carlo found difficulties without his assistant. The fact Clement is not by his side now could explain some of his struggles at Bayern. And I agree yeah, Don Carlo is a gentleman and a football legend, but tactically he leaves a lot to be desired. I think either Tuchel or Nagelsmann will take over Bayern next season.

They did. He clamoured for Fernando Torres and then couldn't fit him into the side. Lampard had a sport's hernia, Drogba had malaria, and Malouda thought he was Messi. It was a messy season from top to bottom. The only brightside was signing David Luiz. The team also struggled when Ray Wilkins left the team (was he fired?).

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