BERLIN (AFP) – Honorary Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeness has slammed his side’s performance in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund as ‘not Bayern-like’.
Dortmund came back from 2-0 down to snatch a draw, with under-fire striker Anthony Modeste scoring in the fifth minute of injury time.
Hoeness, who played 239 games for Bayern and later served as manager and president as the club established itself at the forefront of German football, said letting Dortmund come back from 2-0 down to draw the match in the last seconds was at odds with the club’s ethos.
“It’s actually not Bayern-like. If you lead 2-0, then you should win the game,” Hoeness said on German television yesterday.
When asked what being ‘Bayern-like’ meant, Hoeness said the club should have had “a lot of self-confidence and said to the opposition, we’re going to score against you a third time”.
While crediting Dortmund as “probably the second best club in Germany”, the former striker said Bayern “let the game go a bit too much and gave Dortmund another chance”.
Hoeness said he felt the club was feeling the loss of star striker Robert Lewandowsi, who departed for Barcelona in the summer, but that coach Julian Nagelsmann had the ability to “compensate” for the loss of the striker.
“There is absolutely no reason for a discussion of the coach’s future. Firstly, we started with three wins and secondly, we are still within reach of the top of the table.
“I’m absolutely convinced that when everything returns to normal, we’ll soon be on top of the table again.”
Hoeness’ former right-hand man in charge of Bayern, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, told Bild yesterday he believed the “talented” Nagelsmann could turn things around.
