The Real Madrid playmaker has been attacked by Bayern’s previous president, who claims he’s quite out of tune with modern football.
Toni Kroos no longer “fits with today’s football” as his playing style is “outdated” and “completely finished”, insists ex-Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness.
Germany had a torrid Euro 2020 campaign as they struggled considerably to perform at the desired standards.
The 2014 World Cup winners managed only one win in their three opening games and made it out of ‘group of death’ Group F as one of the best third-placed team in the group stages.
Die Mannschaft were then knocked out only in the first knockout round following a 2-0 defeat to eventual finalists England.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who hung up his international boots earlier this month, has now been singled out for criticism over his nation’s struggles despite him being one of their better in the tournament.
“I like Kroos a lot, he put in some world-class performances in the past,” Hoeness told Sport1.
“He was great at Bayern, but his style of play is outdated. He no longer fits with today’s football.
“We are 1-0 down against England in the last quarter of an hour, and Kroos no longer crossed the halfway line. His way of playing is completely finished. He played sideways, then sideways again, until the opposing defense was able to get organized.
“Bayern players are super self-confident guys who had a big say with Hansi Flick. I know they were totally unhappy with the situation, with Low’s tactics. Yet they accepted it.
“They should have said ‘Toni Kroos no longer fits into this football with his sideways game. Our football is played vertically. The ball is played forward all the time’.”
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