Uli Hoeneß feels Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl needs a dose of humility

· BavarianFW

Lennart Karl hasn’t quite found his top form ever since returning from the thigh injury that caused him to miss out on the World Cup with Germany this past summer. He suffered the injury just ahead of one of Die Mannschaft’s final tuneup friendlies ahead of the tournament against the United States, and the Bayern […]

Lennart Karl hasn’t quite found his top form ever since returning from the thigh injury that caused him to miss out on the World Cup with Germany this past summer. He suffered the injury just ahead of one of Die Mannschaf t’s final tuneup friendlies ahead of the tournament against the United States, and the Bayern Munich youngster very well could have played a key role for Julian Nagelsmann had he been fit.

Ever since marking his return to action for Bayern this season, Karl hasn’t quite been the player who looked incredibly exciting and promising at different points last season when he was called upon by Vincent Kompany. So far this season, Karl has tallied just a goal and an assist from a total of nine appearances across all competitions—a far cry from being on pace to hit the heights of the nine goals and eight assists he tallied last season, when no one really expected him to be that impactful.

Of course, Karl still has plenty of time to turn his fortunes around for this season, and there will now be a window of opportunity to get minutes as Luis Díaz faces 4 to 6 weeks on the sidelines after sustaining an injury in Bayern’s 2–2 Champions League draw with Arsenal. Not to mention, Jamal Musiala is still working his way back to full fitness, and Serge Gnabry has only just made his own return from a long-term injury problem. For Karl, the chances will be there in the very near future.

For honorary Bayern club president Uli Hoeneß, he feels that Karl needs to be spoken to in a manner that doles out a dose of humility to help get him back on track to the player he was towards the end of last season. “I’m planning to have a serious talk with him. He’s far from being a superstar; young players need humility. Comparisons to Olise are clearly not doing him any good; there’s still a world of difference between them,” Hoeneß recently stressed to Welt am Sonntag (via @iMiaSanMia ).

Whether or not an upfront conversation with the club’s former president will be the catalyst to spark a turn in form remains to be seen for Lennart Karl, but there’s no denying the fact that he hasn’t quite been the same player since his pre-World Cup injury. Something’s got to give for the youngster, and Kompany could certainly do with the 18-year-old turning a corner given the number of injuries to the squad he’s had to deal with so far this season.

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