Kahn slams Magath's gung-ho tactics

Bayern Munich's goalkeeper Oliver Kahn shouts instructions to his teammates during their Bundesliga football match against Bochum, August 30. Kahn has criticised the gung-ho tactics employed by the German champions this season and says it would be wiser for the team to sometimes slow their game down.

Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn has criticised the gung-ho tactics employed by the German champions this season and says it would be wiser for the team to sometimes slow their game down.

Bayern tasted their first league defeat of the season on Sunday with Arminia Bielefeld using a late free-kick to clinch a 2-1 victory and Kahn believes tactical changes are needed.

"We have developed a style of play that we need to reassess," Kahn said on the online version of Kicker magazine.

"Running forward for 90 minutes takes a lot of energy. We just need to calm the game down and change our rhythm and let the ball and the opponents do the running.

"We need to make sure that every player is fulfilling their duties. Everyone here wants to power forward and score a goal but that causes problems at the back.

"It is sometimes difficult to explain to some people that in games such as the one at the weekend (Bielefeld) a 1-1 is sometimes enough."

Favourites Bayern lie third in the Bundesliga table, one point behind leaders Hertha Berlin, and their manager Felix Magath defended his tactics of going for the throat against inferior opposition.

"It is fair enough to go for a victory at the death. It is not as if Bielefeld are Barcelona," Magath declared.