The agent of the 23-year-old World Cup winner, Volker Struth, has taken a very public swipe at Bayern Munich, and more specifically, its manager. After a disappointing season in which Mario Götze failed to kick on after his memorable goal at the Maracana against Argentina to win the most coveted trophy in world football, the question needs to be asked – what next?
“Guardiola has destroyed Götze. He feels like the coach doesn’t have faith in him and yet still he is asked to be decisive when he gets on the pitch”, Struth told German tabloid BILD.
Agents rarely, if ever, make such strong comments without the blessing of their clients. After a long succession of club legends including Franz Beckenbauer took aim at the former Borussia Dortmund star for his perceived immaturity, Götze seemingly decided to use his agent as conduit to make his feelings known to the public.
One can understand his frustration – when the chips were down in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, the man claimed to have been bought at the express request of Pep Guardiola himself was relegated to the bench, playing no significant part over the two legs.
“I’m surprised that Guardiola didn’t use Götze in important matches like the German Cup and Champions League semi-finals. He only plays in the easy games. I wonder why no one at the club has realised that and defended Mario” Volker Struth – Götze’s agent
Many felt that his magical moment in Rio was to be the catalyst for the ‘German Messi’ to reach the heights his potential promised, and the start of the Bundesliga campaign certainly supported that school of thought. A run in the team which brought about some excellent performances and a number of crucial goals helped Die Roten race to the top of the table, but at the midway point of the season Götze had reverted to the frustrating form of old. Lethargic and listless performances led to him dropping down in the pecking order at the Allianz-Arena, with even the recently released Mitchell Weiser being preferred at times.
At the nadir of a season of promise fizzling out was the DFB-Pokal exit to BVB and the aforementioned European heavyweight battle with Barcelona, where Götze played little to no part while an injury ravaged and severely depleted Bayern crashed out of both competitions.
The problem is that Götze cannot play in his preferred rolein Guardiola’s system – the hole behind the striker. This makes him look tactically lost at times, and leads to some degree of sulking. One of the attributes that made him one of the brightest talents in world football at Dortmund was his ability to run at the opposition in space, particularly on the counter-attack, but in a possession-based Bayern side this just isn’t possible.
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The major question being raised now is what the future holds for the German international. Even after his comments regarding Guardiola and Bayern, Struth maintained that leaving Säbener Straße is out of the question for his client. However, it is worth remembering that Struth is also the agent of Toni Kroos, who left the Bavarian giants because his wage demands were not met – ironically enough, involving a pay-rise to a closer bracket to what the likes of Götze were earning.
Could we see Götze leaving Bayern if a satisfactory offer comes in? Were these comments in the media a sort of ‘come-and-get-me’ plea? The arrival of Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk for the sizable sum (in Bundesliga terms) of €30 million promises even more competition in an attacking midfield, which already boasts the talents of an ageing but still effective Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and indespensible Thomas Müller.
It seems the main problem for the Götze camp, though, is the fact that Bayern aren’t defending the 23-year-old enough against criticism. Whether this is a perceived shortcoming or reality, one does feel that the Bavarians aren’t overly happy with how the past two years after that €37 million move has gone. True, Götze is an easy target, an ideal scapegoat, but everyone knows that Munich is very much a ‘sink-or-swim’ destination. This upcoming 2015/2016 season has a make or break importance for Götze, and he has reached the age where potential alone cannot downplay underwhelming performances.
He needs to show character now – and the €37 million question now is whether he has it in him.
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