Bayern Munich Director of Sport Matthias Sammer has dismissed speculation regarding the future of Pep Guardiola, insisting that there exists complete faith between club and manager.
The current speculation regarding the future of former FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has seemingly prompted comment from everybody associated with the Bavarian giants, and it is now the turn of Director of Sport Matthias Sammer to weigh in on the topic.
The Bayern Munich manager is set to begin his third season in the Bundesliga next weekend, and although the 44-year-old has won the league in his first two years, it is the UEFA Champions League where he has fallen well short of expectations – losing at the semi-final stage to Spanish giants Real Madrid and his former side FC Barcelona in consecutive seasons.
Sammer insists Bayern Munich and Guardiola continue to have faith in each other
Although the Bayern Munich Director of Sport did hint that Guardiola had become unsettled by the rumours regarding his future, Sammer was quick to dismiss speculation linking him with a move away from Germany.
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Speaking at a press-conference ahead of the Bavarians’ first-round DFB-Pokal match (which they went on to win 3-1), Sammer is quoted by ESPN FC as saying: “Of course people are trying to unsettle him right now and, yes, he was a bit wound up lately but that just shows what a fine feeling he has, and I like that.
“Everything has been said about the coach’s future. We’ll continue to work as we have, full of faith in each other. He is our coach and he is the director of our orchestra.”
The Bayern Munich official also addressed the persistent rumours surrounding midfielder Mario G tze. “We’ve got a big squad and it’s only normal for one or two players to talk about their situation,” Sammer is quoted as saying by ESPN FC. “But all the talk about Mario is purely an external discussion. It’s got 0.0 per cent influence on the sporting side.
“He still has two years on his contract here.”
Time running out for Guardiola
Although it might be counter-intuitive to some given Bayern Munich are such a dominant force in Germany, Pep Guardiola actually took on an impossibly difficult challenge – following in the footsteps of Jupp Heynckes, who won every competition there was to win in the 2012-2013 season.
The Spaniard has a thankless job in many ways – failure to win the Bundesliga would result in public outrage, whilst winning it has little credit attached to it given the significantly superior squad Bayern Munich have in comparison to their nearest title rivals.
As such, whether rightly or wrongly, Guardiola will only really be given real credit if he manages to achieve success in the UEFA Champions League – success that has eluded him since winning the competition with FC Barcelona in 2011.
Given he has fallen at the semi-final stage for the second season in a row – largely due to what one might see as a repetition of tactical mistakes, particularly with respect to the high defensive line – time is, ostensibly, running out for Pep Guardiola.
There appears to be no tangible progress in the Bayern Munich side relative to the treble-winning season, and as difficult as it is to do one better – or even to match that achievement – it is what the Spaniard must aspire to if he really wishes to stay beyond this season in Germany.
If he fails, Manchester City lie in wait.