Benjamin Pavard hits back at French critics, says they don’t watch Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard has been under a ton of pressure as of late. While he spent the last two league games suspended due to a red card against Greuther Furth, the Frenchman has come under attack in his home country for allegedly lackluster performances in the Les Bleus jersey.

Pavard will not take these criticisms lying down. Speaking to Canal Football Club, the Bayern defender explained his view on why the French public doesn’t rate him properly. Here’s how he sees it: (via Goal)

“I take a step back from the criticism in France because I left France young and I have not played many matches in Ligue 1. The French public does not know me much. They just know me with my strike at the World Cup. That’s when people started to be interested in me.”

To be quite perfectly honest, that goal in the World Cup probably WAS the moment where most people took notice of Pavard. Even Bayern Munich, who weren’t linked with him before that strike went in, suddenly became interested in triggering the Frenchman’s release clause. They did go on to do it a year later, after Pavard’s Stuttgart got relegated. If the French public had been paying attention to the 18/19 Bundesliga season, it’s doubtful that they would’ve been impressed. He wasn’t very good. Then again, Pavard won the Champions League the following season, so perhaps Benji has a point.

In any case, Pavard clearly seems to think his reputation would improve if more French people tuned in to watch Bayern Munich:

“I would have liked to be more respected in France because I’m French, but then I’m not going to force people to watch Bayern Munich matches. The real people who know soccer know the performances I have done and that I do.”

Okay then. Most Bayern fans might get a chuckle out of reading that, considering the state of Pavard’s performances at the moment. If the French start tuning in now, it could be curtains for the guy’s reputation. A guy on Reddit probably said it best:

The ball’s in your court, Benji. The performances need to start coming in, or the slander will continue.