Football
9y

Bayern chief Matthias Sammer: No excuses next season

Bayern Munich have no excuses not to dominate next season, the club's sporting executive Matthias Sammer has said.

Despite a fine first half of the Bundesliga season which saw them pick up 14 wins and just three draws, scoring 41 goals and only conceding four in the process, Pep Guardiola's second year at Bayern Munich ended somewhat unsatisfactory.

Even though they won the league at a canter, semfinal defeats in both the German Cup and the Champions League saw heavy criticism for the Bayern team arrive from parts of the media.

And, while the club backed the players after a long season following Germany's World Cup triumph in Brazil, Sammer told Die Welt that things will change for the Munich squad next season.

"Some excuses used towards the end of the season will no longer be accepted by us," he said. "It was possible to hide behind the coach a bit, because there was a public discussion about him, about a squad overhaul as well as the age structure.

"I also offered protection for the team. But I won't do that in the new season. There is no scope for apologies. Preconditions next season will be different: No tournament and a long break.

Elsewhere, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's future at the club remains unclear. The 19-year-old Dane is set to return to Bayern following a loan spell at neighbours Augsburg, but has recently been linked with either another loan or even a permanent transfer away from Munich.

"I have become a better footballer, and that was my goal," Hojbjerg said of his loan at Augsburg. "We now have to sit down and think about what's best for FC Bayern and what's best for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

"And which club would then be best for Hojbjerg. That might sound easy, but a lot of pieces have to be put together. I can understand that a 20-year-old returning from a loan at Augsburg will not be thrown into Bayern's staring formation."

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