Bayern Munich’s Croatian striker Ivica Olic has threatened to leave the club if his role as a super substitute does not change soon. Olic has made only 5 appearances for the champions this season totaling a meagre 72 minutes of play.
The 32 year old striker has had an injury plagued career the past 2 years which have resulted in him falling down the pecking order in the eyes of coach Jupp Heynckes. However in all fairness, you cannot blame the 66 year old Coach for his choices.
Thomas Muller has been in fantastic form for the Bavarians and benching a player who averages a goal every 2 games for a player who feels he has a right to play no matter his current fitness, does not make sense.
This is not to say that Olic is not a talented player, on the contrary he is one of the most lethal strikers in the squad. You have to go back to the 2009-2010 season to see how instrumental Olic has been in Bayern’s prior success.
That season Olic scored 19 goals and was part of the squad that reached the Champions League final. This was followed by a less successful 2010-2011 season that saw him miss a large part of the season.
Speaking to Goal.com after Bayern’s 6-0 thrashing of Ingolstadt yesterday, Olic was candid enough to express his feelings.
“With each workout I feel a little bit better,” Olic said. “But I was disappointed that I could not play from the beginning today. In the end I was happy to come on for a half hour.”
“I always hope that I will play. I was injured a long time, maybe I need to have more patience. Nevertheless, I feel well and I’ve always said that I would not be happy if I did not play. And I will say it again now.”
With his age and injuries playing against him, Olic’s best chance is to stay with Bayern. No team will be willing to spend a large amount of money on a player that is nearing the end of his career.
“When I see that I am no longer being given playing time, then I have to think about a change.
“I’ve always said that I will not be happy if I’m sitting on the bench during the winter of my career. If I cannot play here, then I will try to elsewhere.”
Photo Credit © RobertPattinsonFreak