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Football

07th May 2015

Franz Beckenbauer has some scathing criticism about a certain Bayern Munich midfielder

Is this harsh or ?

Darragh Murphy

When you’re looking for an opinion on Bayern Munich, you’d struggle to find a better man to talk to than German legend Franz Beckenbauer.

The iconic defender, who has over 400 appearances under his belt for Bayern, has weighed in with some strong criticism for the Bundesliga champions’ midfielder Mario Gotze.

Gotze has often been praised for the positive way he plays the game, with reckless abandon and fearless attacking, but Beckenbauer believes the World Cup winner needs to grow up.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13:  Mario Goetze of Germany scores his team's first goal past Sergio Romero of Argentina in extra time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

He told Sky:

“He behaves and moves around on the pitch like a youth player. He just stops moving when he loses a duel. This is the behaviour of a child.

This kind of behaviour does not fit in at Bayern. It is time for him to grow up.

He has shown at Dortmund what he can do and we know that he is a great talent. But there is still something missing.”

Gotze came off the bench in the 79th minute of Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to Barcelona last night, two minutes after Lionel Messi opened the scoring for the La Liga leaders and failed to affect the game, with Barca firing two more past the Bundesliga champions before the end of the game.

H/t to TalkingBaws

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