Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal insists he has no problem in being criticised by manager Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian hit out at the midfielder’s performance against Darmstadt last weekend.
Vidal, 29, garnered a WhoScored rating of just 6.47 in Bayern’s 1-0 win away to Bundesliga strugglers Darmstadt before being replaced with more than 20 minutes remaining.
The Bayern manager criticised Vidal’s performance after the match, which had cast doubt over his participation for their top-of-the-table clash with RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.
Ancelotti hinted that Joshua Kimmich could replace the Chile international in midfielder but it was Vidal that started in their 3-0 win over Leipzig and the ex-Juventus midfielder insists he isn’t phased by any criticism from Ancelotti.
“It’s fine that they criticise me when I play badly… they haven’t criticised me all year,” AS quote Vidal as saying. “I try to do the best possible. It’s not a problem. Ancelotti is the number one and with him we can win the Champions League.
“From January onward games are coming that I’m looking forward to. I’m not going to Chile [over Christmas]. I need to rest. I have 15 days to recuperate well. It’s been an almost perfect year, with four titles. Only the Champions League is missing and we want it this season.”
Vidal followed up with an impressive performance against Leipzig as Bayern ensured their spot as winter champions in midweek and the Bundesliga giants have actually got a far superior record in the league this season when the combative midfielder has started.
In fact, Bayern are unbeaten in the nine league games Vidal has started (88.9% win ratio) compared to a win rate of just 57.1% from the games in which the midfielder hasn’t started.
For more stats on Arturo Vidal, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
