By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- German football has just experienced one of its most memorable and unusual press conferences as Bayern Munich's management accused the media of being "disrespectful, outrageous and polemical" and of breaking the country's constitution.
The club's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Uli Hoeness said any reports containing false information will lead to legal action by the club.
After winning six consecutive national titles, Bayern is sixth in the Bundesliga and without a win in four games. It is said to be causing unrest within the club and team and a debate about the future of new coach Niko Kovac.
But what is behind the attack?
Hoeness has never made a secret of the fact that he regards the reputation of Bayern Munich as his lifetime achievement. Every time the team's success is endangered, Hoeness launches into an attack trying to take pressure off both team and coach.
Since Hoeness took the job as the club's general manager in 1979, going on the attack has been one of his favorite tools to attract attention and get team and coach out of the firing line when the club is hit by a crisis.
"It is about time the biggest club in Germany takes a clear stance on this issue," Hoeness commented. "We will no longer accept this recent kind of media coverage."
While Rummenigge and Hoeness might have set their mark in advance of the side's league clash with VfL Wolfsburg, it seems uncertain if the Bavarians will benefit from their statements in the long term.
TV stations and newspaper published hundreds of posts from fans expressing their disapproval about the management's questionable strategy.
Recently, many Bayern players have been criticized for their poor performance both for Bayern and the German national team.
From now on, Hoeness announced, "we will protect our players and the club will return to full unity."
Rummenigge said he has no word for the comments on Manuel Neuer. "I would like to remind you that Manuel was world goalkeeper of the year four times," Rummenigge stressed.
Several pundits including the former Bayern captain Lothar Matthaeus demanded a change in the German goal after Neuer made two mistakes that led to goals.
Bayern has been accused by critics of missing the right time to rejuvenate its squad as too many older performers are past their prime. Rummenigge said he is annoyed by the criticism aimed at wingers Franck Ribery (35) and Arjen Robben (34).
"When I have to read that our central defenders Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng play 'old men football,' I think: 'Come on guys, I want to remind you of Article 1 of the Constitution saying the dignity of a person is unassailable," he remarked.
The Bayern leaders' attacks seem one-sided as shortly after they accused former Bayern left-back Juan Bernat, now at Paris St Germain, to "have played crap" in the team's Champions League duel in Sevilla. "He was the one responsible that we were nearly eliminated, and that was the point we decided to sell him."
Hoeness recently attacked former German international and current Arsenal midfielder Mesut Oezil for having played complete rubbish over the last four years. Hoeness apologized and said he should have said: "he played rubbish."
The club leaders said coach Kovac is doing a great job. "His only problem is that those, who are not playing are upset," Hoeness commented adding that would be the problem of everyone coaching one of the big teams.
Kovac said, he will stick to his rotation strategy. Kovac has been under fire after media reports spoke of several players opposing their coach's work.
