Unvaccinated players in quarantine
“Disturbing noises are part of it”: Coach Nagelsmann on the vaccination chaos at Bayern
External noises are just part of the game at Bayern, says coach Julian Nagelsmann
© Christof Stache / AFP
The German record champions are currently quite turbulent. Before the Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev, Julian Nagelsmann and Leroy Sané comment on the vaccination chaos at Bayern.
Things are not going well at Bayern at the moment – neither on nor off the pitch. The vaccination refusals around midfield conductor Joshua Kimmich are causing a lot of unrest in the German record champions. Only recently it became known that the executive floor, among others, Kimmich, Gnabry and Musiala had subsequently cut their salaries for the time they spent in corona quarantine (the star reported).
The failure of the midfield stars had sparked the discussion about unvaccinated football professionals from Neue – also because the Munich team surprisingly lost to Bayern at the weekend in the Bundesliga without Kimmich. Before the Champions League group game against Dynamo Kiev, coach Julian Nagelsmann and winger Leroy Sané have now commented on the vaccination debate.
Nagelsmann: Interfering noises are a part of FC Bayern
Basically, he has more fun “when it’s calm and everything is going in the right direction,” said Nagelsmann at the press conference on Monday. However, the coach is surprised that the discussion about unvaccinated professional footballers is only being dealt with at FC Bayern. Other clubs could line up behind and say: “It’s good that we don’t get it”.
The club, so Nagelsmann further, should not make the mistake of “projecting unrest off the field onto the sporty”. After all, despite the historic cup loss against Gladbach and the recent Bundesliga defeat, the team “advanced in all statistical values”.
Sure, “background noises” were just part of the game at FC Bayern. Nevertheless, according to the 34-year-old, the question remains to what extent the club should tolerate this. “Of course I don’t think it’s happy that certain internal matters, which should also remain internal, are divulged,” said Nagelsmann. The latest discussions would not, however, extremely jeopardize the sporting success of the club.
Sané respects the decision of his teammates
Even for midfielder Leroy Sané, the debate about Kimmich and Co. has little sporting relevance. Of course you talk about it in the team. But “it doesn’t really affect us,” said the 25-year-old, who is vaccinated himself. Sané would like all of his team-mates to be on the pitch: “We as a team want to have them with us, of course, that is out of the question”. Nevertheless, he respects the decision of his teammates.
In Kiev, coach Nagelsmann has to do without eight players – five of them (Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Michael Cuisance and Niklas Süle) are in the Corona Quran.