“It’s disrespectful” – Gladbach jumps to the side of Bayern’s goalkeeper
The criticism of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Yann Sommer is making waves. Summer’s former employer is also very dissatisfied. The Gladbach sports director Roland Virkus vehemently defends the Swiss.
DThe criticism of him has been great in the past week. And even after the Bundesliga game on Saturday against 1899 Hoffenheim (1-1), in which Bayern goalkeeper Yann Sommer could not prevent the equalizer, some criticism was voiced. When Andrej Kramaric took a direct free kick, Sommer could only get his fingertips on it – and was no longer able to defend the ball properly.
At Borussia Mönchengladbach, Sommer’s former employer, they of course also heard the criticism of Sommer. Roland Virkus, who works there as a sports director, is bothered by it. He vigorously defended his former professional.
“Yann has put in an excellent performance in Mönchengladbach for years. For me he is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. I have to be honest: the way you treat him is disrespectful,” said Virkus after Borussia’s 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. When asked if the Swiss was currently being treated unfairly, the official said: “Absolutely.”
The 34-year-old moved from Gladbach to Munich in January as a replacement for national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who had been injured for a long time. After the 0: 3 at Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Sommer was recently criticized. “As a goalkeeper, you certainly have a game that isn’t so good. That doesn’t detract from a goalkeeper’s lifetime achievement. Bayern deliberately chose this goalkeeper,” said 56-year-old Virkus. “I don’t think it’s okay to dump everything on him. This is always a problem for the whole and never for an individual.”
Swiss national coach counters Hamann
Dietmar Hamann, for example, had sharply criticized Sommer after the defeat against Manchester. “For me, the goalkeeper was hopelessly overwhelmed today,” said the former international there on “Sky”. “Today and not just today, the goalkeeper made the team feel insecure. When he came I thought he could handle it. I have to correct myself today, I have to say he didn’t make it. I don’t think he’s an option for next season.”
Yann Sommer has played for Borussia Mönchengladbach since 2014. Last summer he moved to Bayern Munich for eight million euros
Source: pa/GES/Markus Gilliar
The sometimes sharp criticism caused a lot of resentment. Compared to the newspaper “Blick”, the Swiss national coach Murat Yakin defended his number one – and blamed Hamann. “Hard analyzes are part of the business and especially at FC Bayern. But it is precisely Hamann’s such sharp criticism that I find incomprehensible. It’s disrespectful to Yann in this form,” Yakin said. “For me it has to be right on defense. It doesn’t have that in that game.”
Sommer’s successor in Gladbach, Jonas Omlin, also praised Sommer extensively. “I think you can learn a lot from him,” Omlin said on Sky. “He’s a professional goalkeeper. What he gets out of his size and has done for a career plus this consistency. He is a role model for every goalkeeper.”