Team has no more excuses for Bayern coach

In an important statement, Makaay's coach Felix Magath has told Bayern's footballers that they can have no more excuses after returning to training following the German winter break.

We must consider that the Bavarian team have had a poor start to the season by their double-winning standards of the previous two seasons.

Indeed, his side is third, three points off leaders Werder Bremen and second-placed Schalke 04, but Magath believes post-World Cup tiredness is no longer an acceptable excuse.

"I think that the World Cup is completely behind us, we have no more excuses," said Magath before heading out to Dubai, where Bayern Munich is going to be on a training camp until January 14.

"We were not able to prepare together for the first part of the season and that showed in our level since August: we were lacking a certain stability, we had difficulty in constructing our match," he admitted.

It's important to notice that Bayern had 11 players at the World Cup finals and some of those, such as Frenchman Willy Sagnol and Germans Oliver Kahn, Lukas Podolski, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger, begun training again just two weeks before the season began.

Makaay's team have lost four times already this season, including three times against modest opponents. They were also knocked out of the German Cup by Aachen.

"If we play to our potential we are without a shadow of doubt the best squad in Germany and we will prove it in the second half of the season," said Dutch striker Roy Makaay.

Finally, we must remember that Bayern's first match after the winter break takes place on January 26 against Borussia Dortmund. It will be a crucial game.