By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN, April 22 - Bayern Munich coach Ottmar
Hitzfeld warned his players in a 90-minute meeting on Sunday
that their days in Munich may be numbered if they keep playing
as poorly as in their 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
"I'm not going to put up with this anymore," Hitzfeld told
reporters. "I'm having to start doing some kicking. At the end
of the season we're going to analyse every single player's
performance. The next four weeks are thus extremely important
for every one of them."
Fourth-placed Bayern have 53 points from 30 games, five
behind third-placed Stuttgart. They have a fight on their hands
to claim one of three spots in next season's Champions League, a
competition they have qualified for every year since 1997.
"Sometimes you have to fall flat on your face to see where
the weak points are before you can make a fresh start."
Bayern sporting director Uli Hoeness ordered his players not
to make any comments to the media after the humiliating
Stuttgart loss. But Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said he
saw a silver lining in the club's worst crisis in years.
"I'm happy that we're getting knocked around," Beckenbauer
told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "That can give the club a new
direction, a chance to say 'Let's go'. The last year things have
stagnated. It wasn't the Bayern with a fighting spirit."