Bayern crisis: fans protest, and Muller asks ‘let’s go, together, let’s go up’ – 02/16/2024 – Sport

It was not common to see Thomas Muller, 34, angry, making harsh criticisms, even exalted with his own teammates at Bayern Munich, but it has been like this this season amid the critical moment the German team is experiencing.

The player has shown himself unhappy with the bureaucratic, uncreative and uncombative football of his team, which is coming off two painful defeats in the Champions League and the Bundesliga.

In the national competition, the 3-0 defeat against leaders Bayer Leverkusen, last Saturday (10), left Bayern stuck in second place, but now five points off the top of the table. In the opening of the round of 16 of the continental tournament, the Bavarians lost to Lazio, 1-0, in Italy.

Muller’s reaction after the end of the game at the Olympic Stadium, in Rome, on Wednesday (14), showed, however, that he understands the pressure from the fans and promises that the team will react. While his teammates listened in silence and with their heads down to the protests of the fans in the stands, the number 25 shouted and gestured, asking the fans to play with the team.

“Come on, come on, together, let’s go up”, he said.

Days earlier, after the defeat to Bayer, the player said he was “frustrated” by what he called his teammates’ “lack of courage.”

Muller did not name any teammate specifically, but the German press has mainly criticized English striker Harry Kane, 30.

According to the newspaper ”Bild”, which was one of those that focused on analyzing the Englishman’s performance after the defeat to Lazio, the England captain only made 18 touches of the ball and scored one shot during the 90 minutes of the match. His performance was called the “Kane Catastrophe” by the publication.

The signing of the striker is constantly questioned. The German club spent 100 million euros (R$535 million) and his performance still hasn’t convinced enough, despite the striker already having 28 goals and 8 assists for the club.

“Sometimes you have to talk about the players. It’s not just about the coach. We have a lot of world-class players in the squad. This phase is also about a certain level of game intelligence. We need to step up,” Thomas Muller pointed out afterwards of the defeat to Bayer.

At that point, it might still have been possible for Muller, with his status among the fans, to make a public defense of coach Thomas Tuchel. But even that changed when the team lost to Lazio and the way the German coach confronted his athletes was leaked.

“You’re not as good as I thought. I’ll have to adapt to your level,” said the coach according to Sky Germany. The broadcaster said that the statement was confirmed by two of the team’s starting players.

Tuchel’s tenure in office appears unsustainable at the moment. The German press, however, claims that he must hold out at least until the second leg against Lazio, on March 5, when Bayern will have to win by two goals to stay alive in the Champions League and avoid their first season. no titles since 2011-12.

Winner of the last 11 editions of the German Championship, the team let Bayer slip away at the top in this year’s edition, was eliminated from the German Cup by DFB Pokal, in the third division, and runs the risk of also falling prematurely in the Champions League, a competition in which was champion six times, the most recent in 2012–13 and 2019–20.

Until the return game with the Italians, Tuchel will still have to deal with the drop in his popularity with fans. In a survey carried out by the Bild newspaper, Tuchel’s popularity has plummeted in recent weeks. Out of 370,000 participants, 83% believe he is no longer the right coach for Bayern.

On Sunday (17), his team returns to the field to face VfL Bochum in Alemão.