Manuel Neuer – comment on the attack against FC Bayern: The captain lets FCB down for the second time

In an interview, Manuel Neuer sharply criticizes FC Bayern Munich for the dismissal of his buddy Toni Tapalovic – and not only exceeds his own area of ​​responsibility. Above all, he is letting his team down as captain for the second time in a very short time. A comment.

Actually, Manuel Neuer should be humble at the moment. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung and The Athletic. Actually a “child’s play” on a route that he has driven quite often.

And yet he was seriously injured – and left his team in the lurch. People make mistakes and the fact that Neuer, as a competitive athlete, feels the urge to do risky sports in his free time is definitely an argument on the other hand. Snow only comes once a year, or at least something like that. Nevertheless, he injured himself and accordingly made a mistake that cost FC Bayern a lot of money. After all: According to his own statement, he apologized to the bosses.

The incident could have been checked off, especially since Bayern reacted excellently with Yann Sommer on the transfer market. But now, of all times, Neuer feels called upon to publicly criticize the club for the dismissal of Tapalovic. Not only does he exceed his own area of ​​competence as a goalkeeper at FC Bayern, but for the second time in a very short time he is anything but a help to his team.

Manuel Neuer: Lobbying for Toni Tapalovic – and against Bayern Munich

As a reminder, Neuer and Tapalovic are considered buddies. The former FCB goalkeeping coach was the best man at Neuer’s wedding. It is therefore understandable that the 36-year-old is disappointed with the dismissal. But he does not have the necessary emotional distance, nor the position within the club, to comment on the decision as drastically as he has now. At most, he is doing lobby work for his friend.

As a trainer, Julian Nagelsmann has to decide together with the sporting management how the team should be set up around him. If, as recently reported, Tapalovic opposed Nagelsmann’s instructions and is said to have passed on internal information from the coaching staff to the team, then these are two good reasons for dismissal. And even if Neuer doesn’t understand them, he has to accept them – or discuss the issues internally.

Instead, he chooses the public route, reporting tears and choosing strong words to give his opinion the appropriate impact. An interview that was obviously conducted past the club. One full of superlatives. For him, his friend’s dismissal was “the most blatant thing I’ve experienced in my career”.

Manuel Neuer: afraid of the future at Bayern?

It almost seems as if Neuer sees his future in jeopardy. As if he feels compelled to show everyone that he is still here and will fight for his position. After all, he has lost a piece of power within the club. With Tapalovic behind him as a promoter and advocate, it was easy for him to deeply influence the decision-making processes. Apparently that’s over now.

From the coming season he will have to face fair competition at both the DFB and FCB. Maybe he doesn’t like it as much as he’d like to admit. As the current captain of FC Bayern, he acts selfishly regardless of the motives.

A good two weeks before an away game in Paris, which will probably have a massive impact on the further course of the season and its assessment, he brings further unrest to the club. The situation had calmed down a bit after the 4-0 win in the DFB Cup against FSV Mainz 05. Apparently that wasn’t enough of a crisis for Neuer.

It remains to be seen whether he shot himself offside with this interview. In any case, he forces a public reaction from Bayern. And it will be interesting to see how this turns out, after Oliver Kahn recently reported on a long and harmonious conversation with Neuer, in which everything was clarified.

While Joshua Kimmich is satisfied with a guest role at the Munich crime scene, the captain of all people is now conjuring up the next crisis blockbuster at FC Hollywood. He didn’t do himself any favors with this interview – and neither did his fellow players. Instead of humility there is now great egoism.

Manuel Neuer in profile