In common with a multitude of Bayern fans, Felix Magath slept badly on Friday night. "I only managed two hours," he revealed in an interview with the mass circulation Bild am Sonntag tabloid. The Munich coach spent much of the small hours contemplating his side's entirely avoidable 3-2 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund, sitting himself in front of the TV for another review of 90 ultimately demoralising minutes at the Westfalen stadium, before announcing a clear verdict: his men had not showed anything near enough passion in the first league fixture after the winter break.
"I'm concerned at the way we presented ourselves. We didn't show enough determination in such an important restart match," the boss told Sunday's scheduled news conference. "We were over-confident. We had a good mid-season programme and an excellent training camp behind us, so we thought we'd boss the play with pretty football. Yet again, we've learnt that attitude is the deciding factor."
Dire warning
Nevertheless, the coach insisted, the title race was far from over. "I don't think you can now conclude we'll just keep playing that way for the rest of the season," he declared, although the Sunday newspaper interview included a stern warning to his troops. "We can't afford any more slip-ups. Time is running out for Bayern Munich. If we fail to beat Bochum on Tuesday, the title is pretty much beyond us."
It was not a question of lack of quality, the coach told the news conference. "But we have to make our quality count - and that means we have to impose our quality on the game. That in turn means we have to be willing to graft and get stuck in." Magath urged his men to show that willingness when Bayern entertain VfL Bochum on Tuesday. "I'm expecting a totally different performance against Bochum."
Still confident
Sixteen fixtures remain for the champions to close the gap to the top of the table. "I'm still convinced we'll play very good football from now on," the coach remarked. The Bayern camp aims to ensure Friday night in Dortmund was very much an exception.
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A wise man once said:
Quote:
Try this out. When she is about to say yes or no, pull back and say, "nah, I change my mind" and sort of walk away.
See what she does then. You will have basically turned the tables on her. Tried this a few times, always works.
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"Well, that was fun... in a fuckin' terrible, sick, not-at-all-fun way."
Ricardo Quaresma: forever a Porto legend. Thank you for all the memories.
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