The former Germany star has criticised the club’s big-name players and the hierarchy after a run of four games without a win and defended their coach

Lothar Matthaus has backed under-fire Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac – and slammed the German giants’ star players and hierarchy.

Bayern have not won in four games and were beaten 3-0 at home by Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.

Club legend Matthaus admitted that performance was one of Bayern’s ‘worst in years’ – but says they are paying the price for failing to rejuvenate an ageing squad, rather than blaming Croatian Kovac.

Bayern have slipped to sixth in the Bundesliga and Matthaus told Blick : “Many players have been awarded new contracts and Bayern ignored exciting talents in the transfer market. 

“I can’t understand it. Bayern had nine players in the field on Saturday, who played in the Champions League final in 2013.”

Former Bayern midfielder Kovac, 46, only succeeded Jupp Heynckes in the summer and, despite a run of seven wins at the start of the season, has seen his side struggle in recent weeks.

Club president Uli Hoeness has suggested Kovac is ‘putting his neck on the line’ due to his rotation policy – but Matthaus, who played for Bayern in two spells between 1984 and 2000, is behind the former Croatia and Eintracht Frankfurt boss.

“He’s an ambitious guy with a plan,” he added. “He is the right man to turn things around. The responsibility is more club management and players.”

And he singled out star names such as James Rodriguez, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery for criticism.

“Players like James and Lewandowski, Robben and Ribery – some stars are selfish and disrespectful to coaches, club and team-mates. This must stop. 

“Uli Hoeness has to give up sayings like that. He and [sports director] Hasan Salihamidzic need to make it clear to players that they need to change their negative body language.”

Southampton were passed off the pitch in Sunday’s home defeat to the Blues, with the Spaniard sealing victory after a superb team move

Maurizio Sarri has wasted no time in leaving his mark on Chelsea, with Alvaro Morata’s goal against Southampton coming straight out of the eccentric Italian manager’s playing manual.

The former Napoli boss is known to favour short, sharp passing in his teams, in contrast to the more pragmatic styles favoured by predecessors Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. 

That philosophy is paying off at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea temporarily occupying the Premier League summit after dispatching the Saints 3-0. 

Eden Hazard opened the scoring with his seventh league goal of the season 30 minutes in, before Ross Barkley swooped after the break. 

It was left to substitute Alvaro Morata, one of the few Blues stars who has struggled to adapt to ‘Sarriball’, to polish off the win in injury time as he converted from close range. 

“We moved the ball very quick. I think one touch, sometimes two. We arrived at the goal so easy. I think it’s my football,” Morata said after the game.

While the goal will come as a relief to the Spain international after a difficult start to the season, it was in the build-up that Sarri’s strategy really came to the fore. 

A total of 31 passes were made in a move that started in the Chelsea area and finished with Morata wheeling away in celebration, a Premier League-high for the current season. 

Chelsea moved the ball across the pitch in order to stretch the resistence of a weary Saints side, with Eden Hazard at the heart of the move. 

It was indeed the Belgian who played the final killer pass to Morata, who finished with aplomb for his second league goal of the season. 

Jorginho has also been a figurehead of Sarri’s passing game, having previously set a Premier League record for distribution against West Ham.

The Blues’ time at the top will prove to be short-lived. 

A draw between Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday will see the Blues share the lead, albeit below the latter by virtue of goal difference; while any outright winner of the fixture will enjoy a two-point advantage over Chelsea, who sit on 20 after eight games.

The under-fire coach has put on a brave face for the press, but an immediate drastic improvement in form is required if he is to keep his job

On Saturday, after losing late on to Deportivo Alaves at Estadio de Mendizorroza, Sergio Ramos sought to lessen the inevitable cacophony of crisis claims surrounding a Real Madrid side who are now without a win – or even a goal – in four games across all competitions.

The Blancos’ captain put to the press that the club were only three points off the top spot, meaning he assumed Barcelona would seal all three points on Sunday against Valencia. An oddly assured comment coming from one of the Blaugrana’s biggest historical rivals.

Barca themselves, however, are now without a win in four Liga matches, having drawn at Mestalla, meaning Sevilla were allowed to climb to the top of the table as Madrid slipped down to fourth, one point behind their cross-town nemeses Atletico.

Ramos, of course, as Real’s captain, could be forgiven for trying to find positives by highlighting the minimal point gap in his post-match platitudes, but the truth is that the feeling at the Santiago Bernabeu is anything but positive – even with Barcelona’s dip in form taking the edge off.

Julen Lopetegui is putting on a brave face too, claiming that Madrid’s ‘objectives remain intact in Spain and Europe’, but an inside source at the club revealed to Goal that the mood is far from calm in the Blancos camp.

“We are letting La Liga slip away,” the source said, “We have to improve a lot.”

Lopetegui’s citing of statistics, injuries and misfortunes that have befallen Madrid does little to explain the goal drought and lack of victories in the last four matches. Indeed, the Spanish capital side have not failed to score in four consecutive games since 1985. 

A resounding crash in form since the 3-0 Champions League victory over Roma and breaking negative records set more than three decades ago has put the former Spain boss’ future into doubt. 

It’s also worth remembering that the 52-year-old started his competitive tenure with a disappointing defeat to Atleti in the UEFA Super Cup.

Meanwhile, the players have positioned themselves on Lopetegui’s side, publicly giving him their support. Raphael Varane said that they are ‘delighted’ with their coach, and Ramos himself said it would be ‘madness’ to give him the sack.

In addition, Isco, Nacho and Toni Kroos have all taken to social media to voice their belief that they can turn around their poor form. What else can they do if their wish is for the boss to remain in charge?

Their only real option, however, is radically improved results results with immediate effect. There are big games coming up and El Clasico is just around the corner – October 28, to be precise.

It’s a date that is marked in red in the calendars of all Madridistas. Especially Lopetegui’s bosses.

Social media users heaped scorn onto the struggling manager and his charges during a nightmare first half at Old Trafford

After a rocky week, things looked to be getting worse for Manchester United – and their fans were distinctly unimpressed. 

At 2-0 down, the pressure was mounting on United and boss Jose Mourinho following a string of disappointing results to start the Premier League season. 

United started the weekend marooned in 10th spot, and things looked to be getting worse on Saturday as Newcastle United hit twice in the first half to further plung them into the mire. 

Kenedy hit first against his old Chelsea boss, before Yoshinori Muto hit minutes later to double the deficit for the hosts. 

Though the Red Devils did rally for a 3-2 victory after goals from Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez, with Mourinho’s job said to be on the line, he was the focus for criticisms for a lacklustre first half at Old Trafford. 

The teenager has been in stellar form this season after taking a leading role at the World Cup, provoking his PSG team-mate to heap praise on him

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Julian Draxler lauded Kylian Mbappe, hailing his team-mate as “phenomenon”.

Mbappe, 19, has already struck 10 times in seven games this season, including netting four against Lyon in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Draxler, who has only started three Ligue 1 games this campaign, talked up Mbappe’s incredible speed.

“In my opinion, you don’t have to say more about this boy. He is a phenomenon,” the Germany international said on Tuesday.

“He’s got so much speed and I guess there are not many players with speed like this in world football.

“He’s so dangerous in front of goal and I guess everybody’s glad that he is part of our team.”

Asked what he could learn from Mbappe, Draxler said: “I wished I would be as fast as he is, but I’m not.”

PSG have made a record-breaking start to the Ligue 1 season, winning nine straight games to hold an eight-point lead at the top.

The 25-year-old, who used to be on West Ham’s books, will compete alongside GrayzaGoal in competitive tournaments

Goal has expanded its eSports team by signing experienced professional FIFA player Danny Taylor.

The 25-year-old joins Graham ‘GrayzaGoal” McIntyre to complete Goal’s eSports team and become the global football website’s first PlayStation player.

Prior to joining Goal, Taylor represented West Ham United and reached the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Finals three times.

Goal’s Marketing Manager, Paul Rayment, said: “We believe that by adding Danny to our team not only improves our competitiveness, but also the content we can create for the legion of FIFA fans who come to Goal for both their football and gaming content.

“Danny’s experience will be an asset, and with his style being similar to Graham’s we expect the pair to form a true partnership and help each other improve as players.”

Taylor said: “Last season went well for me, but I’m eager to do better this season and with Goal’s support I’m in a great position to do so. I’m looking forward to winning with Goal but also getting involved in more FIFA content and helping to raise the profile of FIFA as an eSport.”

He has already represented Goal by competing against players from Leicester City’s Christian Fuchs’ eSports team.

Taylor and McIntyre faced five players from No Fuchs Given eSports in a series of matches that will be shown through Goal channels later this month.

The Middlesbrough native also took part in the first Weekend League of the competitive FIFA season, winning 27 out of 30 matches, making him a verified player for future professional tournaments.

The Croatia and Real Madrid playmaker could become the first player since Kaka to break the streak of the Barcelona and Juventus talismans

Luka Modric, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or , with the Croatia star looking to end the domination the latter pair have had on the award. 

The nominees for the award are selected by France Football, while the voting is done by group of international journalists with no more than one per country. The winner will be revealed on December 3 in Paris.

Modric, coming off a year which saw him win the Champions League with Real Madrid and lead Croatia to the World Cup final, is seen as a strong possibility to break the hold Messi and Ronaldo have on the award.

The pair have won every Ballon d’Or since 2007, when Brazil legend Kaka won it while featuring for Milan. Messi and Ronaldo have each won five over that decade, and have been so dominant in the voting that only other person has finished second over that span – Andres Iniesta in 2010.

However, Modric won UEFA’s Player of the Year and FIFA’s the Best award, and is arguably the favourite heading in.

Mohamed Salah, who was also nominated for UEFA Player of the Year and The Best awards, also made the list after his record-breaking season with Liverpool.

He’s joined by a trio of his Liverpool team-mates – Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker.

Modric has plenty of company from Real Madrid among the nominees, with Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Isco and Los Blancos newcomer Thibaut Courtois picked for the shortlist.

Kylian Mbappe, who is favourite for the Kopa Trophy for the best player under the age of 21, also made the list.

Premier League record-breakers Manchester City are also well represented, with Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne among those selected.

Tottenham and England star Harry Kane makes the list after his Golden Boot award in the World Cup, while World Cup winner N’Golo Kante and his Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard also snagged nominations.

Other nominees include Uruguay strike duo Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, Antione Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Jan Oblak.

The full list can be found here

The Tottenham Hotspur man has replaced Everton after the Gremio forward was forced to withdraw from this month’s Brasil Global Tour through injury

Lucas Moura will join the Brasil Global Tour for this month’s matches against Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

The Brazilian football confederation (CBF) confirmed on Monday that the Tottenham Hotspur man has been drafted in to replace Gremio forward Everton, who was forced to withdraw through injury.

The 26-year-old has been in fine form this term for his club and will now be hoping to make his first Brazil appearance since Copa America 2016.

“He is a player we have monitored since his time with PSG,” said technical coordinator Edu Gaspar.

“We want to take advantage of this cycle by observing [new players]. We spoke to Tottenham this morning and they understood the importance of this call-up for both the player and the Brazilian national team.”

Lucas Moura won’t have far to go to meet up with his new team-mates, who on Monday arrived at Tottenham Hotspur’s training facility in Enfield, London, where there squad will be based until Wednesday when they fly to Saudi Arabia.

Everton was the second player to pull out of the squad through injury after Real Madrid defender Marcelo was replaced by Filipe Luis.

Brazil meet Saudi Arabia at King Saud University in Riyadh on October 12 before meeting Argentina at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on October 16.

Follow a new era for Brazilian football by joining us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Manchester City midfielder is learning from his Spanish team-mate as he fights for regular starts in Pep Guardiola’s side

Phil Foden has cited David Silva as his biggest inspiration in football and has set his sights on emulating the Spaniard at Manchester City.

Foden has long been touted as a future City star and has recently been called up to the England Under-21 squad for the first time for their European Championship qualifiers against Andorra and Scotland.

The 18-year-old – who has made five appearances in all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s side this season – has his work cut out to become a regular for the Premier League champions, but acknowledges he has the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the game in training.

When asked who his biggest inspiration in football was, he told Sky Sports: “David Silva, because I’ve seen him come through at City.

“He’s been a great player for us and I’ve really enjoyed watching him.”

Having failed to win any of their last three matches, the Reds defender insists they must beat the Premier League champions

Beating Manchester City could be “massive” for Liverpool’s season after three games without a win, according to Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Having won their first seven matches of 2018-19 in all competitions, Jurgen Klopp’s side have come unstuck in the past week, albeit in some difficult fixtures.

The Reds were beaten 2-1 at home by Chelsea in the Carabao Cup before drawing 1-1 at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League meeting last Saturday, and their worst performance of the season followed on Wednesday as they lost 1-0 to Napoli in the Champions League without recording a shot on target.

Liverpool ended City’s unbeaten run in the top flight in January, when they won a thrilling game 4-3 at Anfield, and they also knocked Pep Guardiola’s side out of the Champions League quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

And Alexander-Arnold hopes for another positive result on Merseyside to keep their title challenge on track.

“It’s a massive game,” the full-back told Liverpool’s official website. “You’ve got to beat the best if you want to be the best.

“One of the toughest tests you’ll get all season is Man City, so taking three points from them for yourself can be big going forward. It would put a lot of confidence in us. That’s our aim and we know we can do it, it’s about doing it on the day.

“It’s obviously going to be a tough game, but we’ve shown in recent games that we have the ability to beat them, to go toe-to-toe with them, and that’s what we’ll be looking to do again on Sunday – to go at them and try to win the game.

“We’re not just taking part, we’re not just looking for a point, we’re looking to win and get all the points, but you’re not going to get much harder opponents than Manchester City.”

Alexander-Arnold believes the midweek disappointment at the San Paolo could help Liverpool to improve, provided they learn from their disappointing showing.

“I think the best teams bounce back from a defeat and that’s what we’ll be looking to do,” he said. “It’s important to keep the momentum going. There was a bump in the road on Wednesday, but we’ve got to keep trying to push forward and gather as many points as we can.

“It was a tough one and it was hard to take, but they’re the type of lessons you learn from the most. You learn from them more than maybe coming away with a draw. I think maybe it can help us in the long run if we learn from it.”