Pep Guardiola Says Mole Damaging Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola thinks leaks from the dressing room have hampered his spell at the club, with rumours swirling about tension between the coach and his medical staff.

Guardiola will leave the German champions after three years at the end of the campaign, with Manchester City and the Premier League next up for him.

According to Bild (h/t the Press Association, via the Guardian), there have been some heated exchanges between himself and the physiotherapists behind the scenes.

When quizzed about these alleged disagreements, Guardiola inferred there is a mole in his camp feeding stories to the media:

"

Usually what happens inside the dressing room remains inside the dressing room. Whoever has spoken has done it to hit me. But I’m not here next season anyway so it’s not my problem, but Bayern’s. It’s happened plenty of times over these past three years.

It’s normal for me to talk to my players and staff and give them my opinion, but there are people here who are talking because they want to hurt me. Maybe this person will still be here next season and clearly they haven’t realised that they are not damaging me, but the club and the team. I won’t be here, so it’s the club’s problem.

"

ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images

The report from Bild stated Guardiola “nearly came to blows with his physios” recently due to their inability to get players fit quick enough. 

One of his main bugbears is said to be centred on the fact Atletico Madrid, who knocked his team out in the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, were able to get star centre-back Diego Godin fit enough for the second leg of the tie, while Bayern winger Arjen Robben continues to suffer with niggling injury issues.

Sport Witness, commenting on the story from Bild, added some background to the report, noting how the departure of Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and three members of his staff last year due to a row has influenced matters:

Guardiola was speaking on Friday ahead of Bayern’s clash with Ingolstadt, a match in which they can secure the title—the third in as many years since the former Barcelona man joined—with three points.

GUENTER SCHIFFMANN/Getty Images

While that’s an impressive haul, many have written off Guardiola’s stint at the club as a failure due to his inability to secure the Champions League. That also annoyed the coach.

“I’ve done my best here,” he said. “But if you say that I had to win the Champions League, then I have failed. Go ahead and write that I have failed.”

OptaFranz broke down the numbers behind three successive Champions League semi-final exits for the Catalan and his team:

With the end of his three-year stint in sight, perhaps Guardiola feels at ease opening up a little more to the press. And he made no secret of the fact that with just two league games to go, as well as the German cup final, it will not be an issue that plagues him for much longer.

The move to City, with all their wealth, has been branded as an easy option for the illustrious coach. However, not only will Guardiola have to overhaul a squad that has aged collectively down the years, he’ll also have to cope with the unrelenting spotlight the English press will train on him. How he deals with such intense focus will be fascinating.