The next time Pep Guardiola gives a Bayern Munich team talk, he may have to whisper it or write it down in a cryptic message.
There’s a mole loose in the Bayern locker room and whoever it is, they’re upsetting Pep big time.
Before the massive Bundesliga clash against Munich’s fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund last Saturday, team tactics and news was leaked to the press in Germany. Bayern ended up winning ‘Der Klassiker’ 3-0 with a late flurry of goals but nevertheless, classified information leaking out of the squad has irked their Spanish manager.
“It does not matter who it is, heads will roll,” Guardiola was said to have told his players after the game. “I will throw him out. He will not play under me again.”
Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge echoed Guardiola’s sentiments and wants the leaking of team tactics and other sensitive information to stop.
“We will obviously not bring in the NSA (National Security Agency) to find out who it is,” Rummenigge said. “But I advise him to stop doing it or he will have a serious problem not only with Pep Guardiola but also the entire club.”
So, are there any candidates for who the person leaking Bayern’s tactics could be? Well, any player with a strong personnel link between Bayern and Dortmund could be the individual Guardiola shines the spotlight on as he ramps up his investigation into how his team talks are being leaked into the public domain.
(MORE: Dortmund 0-3 Bayern Munich: Bayern stay top, pull seven points clear of BVB)
Mario Gotze’s high-profile move from BVB to Bayern over the summer got everyone’s knickers in a twist, and the former Dortmund academy product was given plenty of abuse when he returned to the Westfalenstadion this weekend. He scored Bayern’s opener and helped his new side to easily dispatch his boyhood club in a second half canter to three points. Did Gotze leak Munich’s tactics to his old teammates before the clash?
I highly doubt Gotze has anything to do with it, why would he, or any other player for that matter, completely tear apart the inner sanctity of the the Bayern locker room? No real professional would, but perhaps a coach or one of the other members of Bayern’s support staff is the guilty party...
Wherever the fingers lies, because we could sit here and speculate all day long, Bayern are still top of the table, seven points clear of their rivals Dortmund and have qualified for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
But as long as that mole is lurking, Guardiola will be keeping his cards very close to his chest.
