Beckenbauer issues Van Gaal warning

Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has given under-fire coach Louis van Gaal until Christmas to improve the club's fortunes.

A 2-0 defeat to Bordeaux on Tuesday has seriously jeopardised Bayern's chances of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League while their Bundesliga form has been no better than under Van Gaal's predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann.

Klinsmann lasted until April, mainly due to his success in reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but Beckenbauer does not expect Van Gaal to be given as long, although defeat to Schalke tomorrow should not bring about a swift change.

"I cannot imagine that," he told Sat.1 television. "I believe that our board has enough patience, at least up until the winter break.

"If we lose every game between now and then, then certainly the board will have its considerations."

Beckenbauer remains convinced, however, that Van Gaal is the right man for the job and, unlike Klinsmann, has the experience to transform the club over the coming months.

"Van Gaal simply must be given the chance," he added. "I hold him in high esteem.

"Wherever he has worked, he has left good results behind. He will get things under control."

Beckenbauer preferred to direct his ire towards the players following the loss to Bordeaux.

The defeat means a win over Juventus and Maccabi Haifa may not be enough to see Bayern join Les Girondins in the next round.

And Beckenbauer was not scared of naming and shaming those who contributed to one of the club's worst nights in recent memory.

"FC Bayern no longer have their destiny in their own hands and the consolation of coming third and playing in the Europa League is hardly comforting," he wrote in his column in the Bild newspaper.

"Only when Arjen Robben came on in the second half did we start looking for a goal. He is quick and dares to go into challenges.

"Bastian Schweinsteiger is capable of doing that too, as he has shown more often when he has played for the national team.

"You have 90 minutes to score the winner, but you cannot afford to make blunders like Mark van Bommel did for 1-0."

Beckenbauer is now pinning his hopes on Franck Ribery making a swift recovery from his knee injury to rescue Bayern's season.

"It is like the theatre production 'waiting for Godot', only we are waiting for Ribery," he continued. "We have got to hope that Ribery returns. He makes the difference.

"He gives unpredictability to our game and carries the team with him."