Former Manchester United star Bastian Schweinsteiger has torn into Pep Guardiola for his role in German football ‘losing their values’.
The Spaniard spent a three-year spell with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich before his arrival at the Etihad Stadium. In that time, he won three league titles, two German cups and a whole host of other trophies.
Guardiola wasn’t quite able to add the Champions League to that collection but it is hard to argue that his stint in Bavaria wasn’t anything other than a huge success. Despite that, Schweinsteiger does not believe his lasting impact on the German game is particularly positive.
He instead thinks that the former Barcelona coach’s possession-based style of play is a huge reason why the German national side have not been successful over recent years.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Schweinsteiger said: “When Pep Guardiola joined Bayern Munich, when he came to the country, everyone believed we have to play this kind of football, like short passes and everything.
“We were kind of losing our values. I think most of the other countries were looking at Germany as a fighter, we can run until the end and everything.
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“The strengths got lost through the last seven, eight years. We forgot about that and were more focused on playing the ball nicely to each other. That's one of the reasons.”
It is not the first time that Schweinsteiger and Guardiola have not seen eye-to-eye. Following the former’s move to Old Trafford, Guardiola said that he had not been fit ‘for three years’, a claim the midfielder disputed.
One of Schweinsteiger's ex-colleagues also does not appear to agree with his suggestion about Guardiola. Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has previously been full of praise for the Manchester City man and his development of the game in his home country.
“In Germany, they were more interested in what happens in the boxes, defence and attack,” he claimed to The Athletic. “No commentator raised their voice when the ball was in the centre. We, the guys in the middle, hardly mattered. Sometimes, they didn’t see us.
“He was the key figure for German football and for me personally. He opened everybody’s eyes to the importance of control,” he added. Many coaches and club officials came to [the Bayern Munich training ground at] Sabener Strasse to see his sessions and talk to him about his novel way of playing. Midfield was his always his main concern.
“Because of the brilliance of his team’s football, the perception changed. People began to see football and midfielders in a completely different light. He was a trailblazer, for coaches and supporters alike.”
