Jens Lehmann rarely needs an invitation to say the uncomfortable thing. On Sky Germany’s “Triple, der Hagedorn-Fußballtalk”, the former Germany number one went straight at Vincent Kompany, telling viewers Bayern Munich’s run of defensive errors traces back to how the head coach runs the dressing room.
“As a coach, I have to lead by example, because the players do not talk to each other,” Lehmann said.
He put the pattern in historical frame.
“They keep making the same mistakes. That is unusual at this level,” Lehmann said, before pointing to last season as well: “Last year in the Champions League, when it mattered, they also made these mistakes.”
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His verdict on the fix was blunt: “If you defend well, you win.”
Eight seconds in Augsburg, 90th minute in Stavanger
The evidence is only a week old. On 10 October in Augsburg, Manuel Neuer fumbled a back-pass and gifted the hosts the fastest goal in Bundesliga history, eight seconds in. Harry Kane dragged Bayern back twice with assists, but Nathaniel Brown’s late goal pulled Augsburg level at 2-2.
Three days later in Norway, Viking FK went 2-0 up through Gianni Stensness in the second minute and Peter Christiansen on 38. Kane cut the deficit from the penalty spot on 54 and nodded another on 60. Luis Díaz put Bayern in front on 71. Two minutes later Michael Olise picked up a second yellow, and Herman Haugen’s 90th-minute equaliser capped a 3-3 draw.
Kompany admits the pattern
Kompany himself has picked out the same markers.
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“It’s our own fault today,” he told reporters after the Viking draw. “We were very dominant, like we were at the weekend. There are certainly things where you can say the substance of our performance isn’t that bad, but we’re just making lapses in concentration and aren’t smart enough in these moments.”
He traced the specific lapses himself.
“Against Augsburg we conceded after eight seconds, today after one and a half minutes,” Kompany said.
“The sending-off was obviously stupid, and we’ve spoken about it quite clearly,” he added, blaming the draw on “isolated situations, which we’re bringing about ourselves”.
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Focus errors rather than a coaching failure, in other words. That reading sits directly opposite Lehmann’s.
The Urbig subplot
Lehmann used the same Sky slot to question whether 23-year-old Jonas Urbig can replace Neuer long term, telling the show he does not believe Urbig will be Bayern’s permanent number one because he is “too young”, according to German news agency DPA. Former Bayern chief Oliver Kahn echoed the doubts.
Kompany pushed back directly at his pre-match press conference.
“I cannot always assess what’s being said on talk shows,” he said. “We always have a plan and try to stick to it.”
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He added that Manuel Neuer is “a huge part of this whole story” around Urbig’s development.
Bayern host RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday, kick-off 6:30pm local time at the Allianz Arena.
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