Bayern Munich “irritated” with the timing and manner of Joachim Low’s roster moves

After yesterday’s shocking news that Germany coach Joachim Low had cut Bayern Munich standouts Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, and Jerome Boateng, it was a matter of time before Bayern’s leadership group spoke out about the timing and potential effect that the news could have on the Bavarian squad.

SportBild’s Christian Falk posted a portion of the official statement released by Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić on his Twitter account:

We believe the timing and circumstances of the announcement of this decision to the players and to the public (are) questionable.

Rummenigge’s concern over the timing of the announcement is certainly warranted. Bayern is in the midst of a battle for the Bundesliga and also faces a daunting task in the Champions League against Premier League power Liverpool. If Low wanted to pick a more controversial time to make the announcement, he would be hard-pressed to find one.

Meanwhile, TZ captured Bayern’s full, official statement from Rummenigge and Salihamidžić on the topic:

National coach Joachim Löw has decided not to consider our players Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng in the future. In principle, we do not comment on sporting decisions by the national coach; the nomination of the squad of the national team is solely the responsibility of Joachim Löw.

However, we consider the timing and circumstances of the announcement of this decision to the players and to the public questionable. The last international match of the German national team took place on November 19, 2018. The fact that the players and the public were informed approximately three months later, just ahead of critical matches for FC Bayern — on Saturday against VfL Wolfsburg in the fight for the Bundesliga title and a few days before the decisive second leg against Liverpool in the round of 16 of the Champions League next Wednesday — irritates us. In addition, we were surprised that this was done yesterday in the context of an unannounced visit by Joachim Löw and Oliver Bierhoff (Director of National Teams and Academy) at Bayern on Säbener Strasse.

Thomas Müller (100 caps), Mats Hummels (70) and Jérôme Boateng (76) have played in 246 international matches for the German national team; they marked an extremely successful decade for the DFB, with winning the title of World Champion in 2014 as absolute highlight. FC Bayern has the greatest respect for the sporting accomplishments of Thomas, Mats and Jerome for the national team and German football.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (CEO) and Hasan Salihamidzic (sports director)