Bayern chief Mathias Sammer backs Pep Guardiola over Man City move
Wednesday 3 February 2016 18:26, UK
Bayern Munich director of sport Mathias Sammer has defended Pep Guardiola's decision to coach Manchester City next season amid reports of dressing room unrest at the Allianz Arena.
German media outlets Sport Bild and Munich-based newspaper TZ claimed there is disharmony and ill-discipline among the squad, and criticised Guardiola for confirming this week that he will take over the Premier League side this summer.
There have also been reports that midfielder Arturo Vidal was drunk at the team hotel in Doha during last month's training camp in Qatar, and Sammer has furiously denied those claims, stating the club will seek legal action.
In a volatile press conference on Wednesday ahead of the resumption of their Bundesliga season - starting with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday - Sammer blasted the German media, some of whose representatives were in the room.
He said: "Our coach is currently being made responsible for everything [by the media] and what is going on here at the moment isn't right.
"Guardiola has never claimed to be perfect, but I am impressed with the intensity with which he lives and loves football, and I am asking for a bit more respect, and not to make things so personal.
"Arturo is in very, very good form and I was surprised about what I read. It's not true, that much is clear. We have a very good, close relationship with Arturo and he himself has said there is no truth in it at all.
"Perhaps there are those trying every means [to stir up trouble] against FC Bayern, to make the league more exciting.
"I can only say; you will achieve the opposite. We will just pull tighter together and become even more unified. In the case of Vidal, we will proceed by legal means.
"One thing is clear, FC Bayern and 'calm' don't fit well together, even when we win every game. I don't want to say that things aren't crackling [with tension] here at the moment, but there are certain trigger points and we have to up the ante against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday."
