Bayern Patient Over New Pep Deal as Lahm Steps Up His Recovery

Bayern Munich are keen to extend Pep Guardiola's stay as manager beyond his current deal, but admit they will not pressure the Spaniard into signing.

Guardiola, who is tied to the German champions until 2016, said late last year that he had no plans to sign a new deal at that stage.

Reports had claimed that Bayern were bracing themselves for the former Barcelona boss's departure but CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the club will approach the matter with patience.

Speaking to a Catalan newspaper, ​Rummenigge revealed he had told Guardiola: "We will not bother you about extending the contract in the upcoming months.

"We will not do anything until the summer, and then we maybe talk in the second half of 2015."​

Guardiola has shown a preference for short-term deals in the past and Rummenigge added: "He can stay as long as he wants.

"Pep is not someone who needs security. He does not a five-year contract to know just how much money he earns at Bayern. That's not Pep Guardiola.

"Pep Guardiola lives for the present, and I accept that."

Meanwhile, Bayern captain Philipp Lahm says his recovery from an ankle injury is progressing as scheduled.

FC Bayern Muenchen - Training Session

The World Cup winner was sidelined for three months after picking up the injury during a training session in November and underwent surgery, which left him on crutches.

But following a course of intensive physiotherapy Lahm no longer needs the crutches and is currently using an exercise bike as he returns to full fitness.

​The 31-year-old told Bayern's official website:"It's all going to plan. I'm going really well.

"It feels great to be rid of the crutches and in a position to go for it again."

The versatile full-back is set to see a specialist in order to build up his stamina ahead of the Bundesliga's return to action later this month.

Pep aiming to win the last trophy of the year

Pep Guardiola: “Congratulations to FC Bayern for an unbelievable 2013. We ran into trouble in the second half today because we gave the ball away too cheaply. We have to put that right. The players are already thinking about Marrakech. I have to keep making the players aware of all the hard work we still have to do, although it’s always tough after Champions League matches. We’re flying to Morocco now aiming to win the last trophy of the year.“

Pep Guardiola about the game against Dortmund

We are happy because we beat the best team at counterattacks in the world. We knew we had to control the first touches of Robert Lewandowski and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. If you let them run, they’re unstoppable. Our first 15 minutes were good, the next 30 not so much. In the second half with Thiago Alcantara, Götze, Philipp Lahm and Toni Kroos, we played very well.

- Pep Guardiola about the game against Dortmund

Reaction to Viktoria Plzen v Bayern

Pep Guardiola: “We knew it wouldn’t be possible for the game to go as well as it did in Munich. All matches in the Champions League are dangerous. Plzen are a very, very good team. And if you lose 5-0 like Plzen did, you’re even more focused in the next match because you’re determined to do better. We spoke about all this beforehand. We played very well in the second half and created plenty of chances. I’m very, very happy we’ve equalled this record, and I hope we can extend it in Moscow. I’m grateful to Jupp. He’s made a bigger contribution to the record than I have.“

Philipp Lahm: “As quickly as possible, we have to make sure we don’t sleep through the early stages like we’ve been doing recently. We keep letting our opponents believe they can take something from the match. We beat Plzen 5-0 at the Allianz Arena, so it’s possible we were a bit more relaxed about tonight’s match, but we can’t be letting that happen! This is the Champions League! That aside, we can be pleased because we have a perfect record of 12 points from four matches.“

Reaction to Bayern vs Viktoria Plzen

Uli Hoeneß: “Our team has been on an amazing roll in recent weeks – and today we saw a continuation of that.”

Pep Guardiola: “I’m pleased because we played well. We have nine points and we’re in a good position to make the next round. We can take a giant stride in Plzen two weeks from now.”

Pep Guardiola in the Bayern Magazin on…

…his early months as FCB coach:
“To me personally, it’s not all that important to be top of the table in October - although obviously, it’s always better to be in first place. What really counts at the moment is for us to develop our playing style. It’s an ongoing process, although we’ve already come a long way, as our performances against Manchester City and Leverkusen showed. Now we want to keep it up in the weeks to come. To be very honest, I’m a little surprised at how quickly the players have taken on board my ideas. I thought we’d need considerably more time - but we’ve already reached a very, very high level, obviously not in every match and not for 90 minutes at a stretch. But halfway through the first half of the season, my initial summary would be this: I’m satisfied with what we’re doing on the field of play.”

…the weeks and months to come: “I’m convinced we’ll be even better when all the players are fit. But we’ll only be in contention for trophies at the end of the season if every player in this magnificent squad accepts my decisions. If not, we’ll have problems. I’m my players’ best friend if they accept what I say. I support players who accept my decisions - but anyone who doesn’t understand that will often find himself watching from the stands. As I keep saying: we need every one of our players, which is why I’ll be happy when we have them all back. Obviously, we’ve been playing very, very well recently. But taking the season as a whole, it’s not good if Franck Ribéry or Philipp Lahm, for example, have to play 90 minutes every three days. The more players I have available, the better I can switch things around.“

…the reasons why he opted to come to Bayern:
A second after Bayern contacted me for the first time, I knew I had to do it. I didn’t want to miss the chance of working here with this great team, which the club has carefully pieced together over recent years. And if I hadn’t said yes at the time, I guess I wouldn’t have been asked again.”

…Philipp Lahm’s switch to a holding midfield role: “We’ve had a few injuries in this position, Javi Martínez and Thiago for example, and Bastian Schweinsteiger couldn’t play for a while. So I had to think of something to give us the required stability in front of defence. You’ll occasionally win games just because you have good strikers and good defenders, but consistent success is impossible unless you have excellent players in midfield. Philipp filled the holding role a couple of times in pre-season, and he did really well. In any case, he’s one of the most intelligent players in the world in my opinion, and I’m 100 percent certain he’d become one of the best in any position after a short settling-in period. Our recent good displays in Manchester and Leverkusen wouldn’t have been possible without Philipp. In normal circumstances, he’ll go back to his former position when the other players return. But it’s comforting to know I can field him in midfield as well.“

…the city of Munich: “Munich is completely different compared to New York (laughs), but I think the city is not dissimilar to Barcelona. You don’t have the sea and the beach, but it’s a very beautiful city. The most important thing to me is always that my family feel comfortable, especially my children, and they’re coming home happy and satisfied from school every evening. My wife is very pleased with life here as well. So I’m hoping I’ll be working for Bayern for a long time yet, so I can get to know the city and the region even better.”

Reaction to Bayern’s cup victory over Hannover

Pep Guardiola: “We played very well, but in the last ten to 15 minutes of the first half we lost our shape. I’m surprised at the way we played in the second half. It’s our mentality, we just kept attacking. We’ve won a tough game against a great team. I’m surprised by Hannover’s performance. It’s not possible to win trophies with only 11 players. We have lots of good players and all of them are good enough to start.“

Claudio Pizarro: “If we take our chances, we’re tough to stop, but we didn’t play very well after going 2–0 up. We might be able to afford that against Hannover, but against the really big names, the kind of carelessness we showed after going 2-0 up can be fatal.“

Reaction to Schalke v Bayern

Pep Guardiola: “That was our best Bundesliga performance of the season so far. We totally dominated one of the strongest teams in Germany. We did very well. I’m satisfied and proud of this performance and my players.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger: “We took it very seriously from the start, our mentality was right. We were determined to take all three points. It’s not easy to come here and win, so we’re doubly delighted about doing just that. We were definitely very good at times.”

Jérôme Boateng: “We’re improving with every game. We dominated possession and our passing was excellent.”

Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke): “It’s hard to beat a team as good as Bayern. We made too many errors, and Bayern will always exploit that. Their passing and positional play is outstanding. It’s hard to get into the game. We had our chances, but you never win if you don’t take your chances.”

Reaction to Bayern vs Hannover

Pep Guardiola: “All the teams in the Bundesliga are very, very good, as Hannover proved today. We were a little risk-averse in the first half. In the second half, we played better after the opening goal from Mario Mandzukic. Now we’re looking forward to the Champions League.”

Franck Ribéry: “We didn’t do very well in the first half. It's always difficult after an international break. It was a lot better in the second half - we had more energy, our movement was better, and we scored the goals. At the end of the day we’ve won, and that was important!”

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