Harsh criticism of Bayern star Musiala: “Played like kids’ soccer” | OneFootball

Jamal Musiala had a rough night in the 1-2 loss to Ecuador. Following the German national team’s first defeat at the World Cup, TV analyst Marcel Reif leveled sharp criticism at the Bayern star.

The loss to Ecuador has sparked an intense discussion within the German national team about the performances of some of its key players. Jamal Musiala, in particular, came under scrutiny following the 1-2 defeat.

The FC Bayern attacking midfielder struggled to get into the game against the physically robust Ecuadorians and was unable to provide much momentum for the German national team. For legendary commentator Marcel Reif, the 23-year-old’s performance was one of the biggest disappointments of the evening.

In BILD ’s World Cup studio, Reif spoke with unusual bluntness.

Reif: “Musiala was nowhere to be seen yesterday.”

The longtime TV commentator was particularly surprised by how consistently Ecuador took Musiala out of the game: “Musiala didn’t even show up yesterday. Musiala was playing kids’ soccer yesterday.”

In Reif’s view, Ecuador completely threw the Bayern star off his game with their aggressive style of play: “Musiala—an incredibly talented player—they didn’t let him play yesterday; instead, they said, ‘Listen, this is our schoolyard, and things work a little differently here. We don’t do any fancy stuff here; if you get the ball, you’re in for a real beating.’”

For the TV analyst, it was clear that Musiala had major problems with this style of play: “And he couldn’t handle it at all. Zero. I don’t know how many passes he managed to complete.”

Now the knockout round awaits

In the first two group stage matches, Musiala was still one of the more prominent German attacking players. Against Ecuador, however, he barely managed to showcase his strengths in one-on-one situations or between the lines.

Photo: IMAGO

Although the loss has no impact on Germany’s advancement—since the team had already qualified for the knockout stage—the performance is likely to be analyzed in detail internally.

Musiala, in particular, is one of the most important game-changers on Julian Nagelsmann’s team. In the Round of 16, the German national team will therefore be hoping that the Bayern star returns to his usual form.