Leon Goretzka discusses Bayern Munich’s questionable post-World Cup form

Bayern Munich were running away with the Bundesliga before the winter World Cup at the end of 2022 but their poor form upon return allowed Borussia Dortmund to catch up and briefly lead the standings before Die Schwarzgelben fell at the final hurdle. There could be a million reasons as to why Bayern stumbled in the Ruckrunde, something that Bayern and Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka can affirm.

“There isn’t one reason for that,” Goretzka said (Sport1’s Kerry Hau and Patrick Berger via @iMiaSanMia). “A lot happened. I still have all the headlines before the World Cup in my head: ‘Everything as always’, ‘Title almost secured’, ‘Boring title race’. Everything was great back then.”

Photo by Nathan Zentveld/Getty Images

Goretzka himself was under immense scrutiny for his performances (an example of which was being subbed on against Koln and brought off after 14 minutes), but he feels that he did an okay job. “I look at things a bit differently,” Goretzka explained. “For example, those who criticize don’t know what the coach gives you as a player. So, I think I’ve done my job well more often than not.”

“But of course, there were also bad performances — more than people are used to from me,” he continued. “You have to face it self-critically and that’s what I do. I’m sure some of our players need a little vacation after the internationals. Same thing for me.”