Lahm, Ancelotti slam Bayern's 'bad attitude'

Berlin (AFP) – Both captain Philipp Lahm and coach Carlo Ancelotti both slammed Bayern Munich’s ‘bad attitude’ as Saturday’s 2-2 draw at ten-man Eintracht Frankfurt left them winless in three games. 

Bayern host PSV Eindhoven in a key Champions League game on Wednesday needing a win, following their 1-0 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid nearly three weeks ago, to stay on course for the knock-out stage.

Having also drawn 1-1 with Cologne in the Bundesliga before the international break, the German league draw with Frankfurt was neither the performance nor the result Ancelotti wanted.

“We didn’t play well and showed a bad attitude, we didn’t deserve to win,” fumed the Bayern boss.

“It was better in the first half and the result was ok, but we were asleep for the first 45 minutes, which is too much in any game.

“Ok, ten minutes without good concentration — it can happen, but not a whole half.

“I have to change that, I want to see my team (play). I’ll have to think about changes.”

Lahm admitted the Bundesliga leaders put in a lacklustre display across the board.

“If you think that it’s okay to play with less than 100 percent then you run the danger of losing the one-on-one challenges and not having the game under control,” said the ex-Germany defender.

“That’s what happened to us all today.”

– ‘Too many mistakes’ –

Bayern had 14 shots to Eintracht’s 13 and had 62 percent possession — their lowest in their ten games so far this season.

Germany international Thomas Mueller, who has now not scored in seven league games for Bayern, agreed it was a bad day at the office for the whole team.

“We didn’t play well. Frankfurt were pulling the strings at times,” he said.

“We’re not used to that as Bayern players and it’s not something we want to get used to either.

“From A to Z, we didn’t play like we wanted to. We’re making too many mistakes as a team.”

Despite the draw, Bayern maintain a two-point lead in the Bundesliga table.

Bayern’s Arjen Robben and Frankfurt’s Szabolcs Huszti both scored first-half goals.

After Germany international Joshua Kimmich put Bayern back in front, Frankfurt had Huszti sent off, but Mexico midfielder Marco Fabian scored their crucial second equaliser 12 minutes from time.

Lewandowski gave Ancelotti cause for optimism by kick-starting Bayern’s attack when he came on for the final 25 minutes.

But there is no disguising the fact that this was a poor performance from a Bayern team which had won all of their first seven games.

Eintracht’s coach Niko Kovac — who turned 45 on Saturday — could barely believe his luck against his old club as his side scored their first goals against Bayern since 2011.

“My team showed what I expect from them over the 90 minutes and they could hardly believe how many chances they had, which was reward for their work,” said the ex-Bayern midfielder

And Frankfurt midfielder Bastian Oczipka stated the obvious — Bayern are lacking their usual spark and are under performing.

“We have never had so many chances against Bayern,” said the midfielder. “Bayern are currently weakening a bit at the moment.”

Luckily for Bayern, their rivals Hertha Berlin and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 on Friday as both teams finished with ten men, leaving Cologne to claim second place, just two points behind Bayern.