Manuel Neuer criticizes Bayern Munich’s passing, lack of concentration

Bayern Munich did not give their best performance in their last Champions League match against Olympiakos. Niko Kovač finds himself under pressure once again, and now the captain himself has criticized his team’s performance.

In particular, Neuer wasn’t pleased at all by his team’s passing. The Bavarians made too many passing errors in Piraeus, and that was their weak spot in Neuer’s opinion. Neuer said the following about the issue, echoing Pep Guardiola (Sport1):

It might sound a little football-romantic or dumb, but I’m glad when I can play a fast pass forward that is carried on and from which we can create something. A pass has to have a message. That’s why you can’t simply make a pass only to have made a pass.

For Neuer, Bayern’s the current situation with ineffective, sloppy passing can be solved with more “concentration and will.” Manuel demands one hundred percent focus for every pass in order for it to be successful.

Bayern Munich has also been heavily criticized for its current style of play. Neuer admits that there are issues in their performances. He said,

Of course, that bothers us. The team is not where it should be. We talk about everything, analyze everything, and are self-critical. That’s the right way, but the implementation is still missing. We have to make it work.

Hasan Salihamidžić was also critical of Bayern’s display against Olympiakos. Even though the Bosnian is always defending the coach and the players, now he was also publicly critical of the game.

You go crazy when you see such a game. Everything has to improve. We’re looking to play forward, but everything is not so fluid. We are not winning control of the midfield and are not letting the ball move. We’re not playing our game.

Bayern Munich found themselves (again) in the post-Oktoberfest hangover and just can’t string few good games after massive Tottenham victory. The situation with the injured players isn’t helping, but Niko Kovač has to come up with something to shake things up a bit.