Bayern’s legendary goalkeeper Sepp Maier has spoken out on the goalkeeping situation at Germany’s record champions and warned against premature praise for Jonas Urbig.
“Jonas Urbig is in his early 20s; you’re not doing him any favours by singing his praises to the skies right now. I’ve read that he performed well for the national team. Well, what did he actually save? A few balls that were coming straight at the goal as normal! Let him play a whole season first before you start handing out praise,” said Maier (82) on Absolut Fußball, a programme by Münchner Merkur/tz, referring to the 23-year-old FC Bayern keeper.
Urbig is regarded as the designated successor to Manuel Neuer (40). However, Maier believes the young international’s time – Urbig made his first two international appearances in the Nations League at the start of the month – has not yet come at the record champions. “Manuel will play until the summer. And I also understand that he wants to play whilst he’s still playing. When he does retire, he’ll be doing himself a favour. And if he comes under pressure before then, he’ll sort it out,” said Maier ahead of Bayern’s Champions League match this evening against Viking Stavanger, in which Urbig will be in goal.
“My God, Manuel wasn’t concentrating”
Neuer had made a hair-raising blunder on Saturday in the 2–2 draw at Augsburg, conceding a historic Bundesliga goal after just a few seconds.
For Maier, none of this is a problem: “Goodness me, Manuel wasn’t concentrating – that happens. It was careless and he knows it. But all this fuss just because he’s reached a certain age? That’s utter nonsense! There are good and bad goalkeepers, but no such thing as old ones. Manuel is still a very good one.” The 1974 World Cup winner sees the debate as “typically German”. His plea: “Leave Manu alone!”
So far this season, Neuer has featured in the Super Cup, in four of the five league matches, and in the Champions League opener against Bodø/Glimt (5–0). Urbig played in Munich’s 2–1 win at Elversberg and in the cup opener in Osnabrück (4–1).