“Arrogant idiots”- Bundesliga club chief brutally berates ex-Welsh striker for Sadio Mane comments

Borussia Dortmund chief Hans-Joachim Watzke berates former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders for Sadio Mane comments

Borussia Dortmund chief Hans-Joachim Watzke perhaps took Dean Saunders’ comments about Liverpool star Sadio Mane joining Bayern Munich as a veiled dig towards his team.

Saunders, an icon for the Welsh national team who played for Liverpool in the 1991/92 season, told TalkSPORT (h/t Liverpool Echo) last week that he failed to understand why Mane would leave LFC for Bayern this summer.

“I’m still baffled why he’s gone. Why would you leave Liverpool when everybody loves you, the manager loves you, your teammates love you?”

He then added that there was no possible upgrade over the current situation Mane was in, and that the Senegalese superstar will have it very easy in Germany.

“You’re playing in the best front-three you’re ever going to play in, in your life. You’re never gonna go to a better team than he’s in right now. It’s not a challenge. He will get in his armchair, light a cigar up, he’ll play for Bayern in third gear and he’ll coast for two years and ruin the best two years of his life as a footballer.”

This was certainly an emotional diatribe from the ex-LFC striker, one that irked Dortmund chief Watzke. Speaking to German outlet BILD (h/t Liverpool Echo) regarding Saudners’ comments, he said:

“There are always some arrogant idiots like this one. As a member of the board of Europe’s club association ECA, I know that German football still has a good reputation. The English didn’t win any of the three European Cup titles in the past season!”

That was expected because you cannot expect BVB’s chief to agree with comments that effectively state that the Bundesliga is a one-horse race. But while Saunders was a bit over the top with his comments, he isn’t entirely wrong.

Bayern have won the last 10 Bundesliga titles in a row. Jurgen Klopp gave the Bavarian giants their toughest competition in years. But BVB lost key players such as Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels and Mario Gotze in the following seasons.

Bayern are known for signing top players from rival German clubs. That doesn’t just make them stronger but also weakens their direct rivals.

But Saunders’ comments can’t be stated as factually correct either. There is competition in Germany and Bayern, if they ever put their foot down, risk blotting their spotless, decade-long spell of winning league titles.

How Watzke’s Dortmund plan to do it without Erling Haaland is another question. Perhaps if they can retain some of their star players and stop their stars from joining Bayern, then they can offer a sustained challenge to them.

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However, as of now, there is no question over which team is the favourite to win the top domestic titles in Germany next year.