Soccer-Shape up or ship out, Hitzfeld warns Bayern players

By Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN, April 22 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld warned his players in a 90-minute meeting on Sunday that their days in Munich may be numbered if they keep playing as poorly as in their 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

"I'm not going to put up with this anymore," Hitzfeld told reporters. "I'm having to start doing some kicking. At the end of the season we're going to analyse every single player's performance. The next four weeks are thus extremely important for every one of them."

Fourth-placed Bayern have 53 points from 30 games, five behind third-placed Stuttgart. They have a fight on their hands to claim one of three spots in next season's Champions League, a competition they have qualified for every year since 1997.

"Sometimes you have to fall flat on your face to see where the weak points are before you can make a fresh start."

Bayern sporting director Uli Hoeness ordered his players not to make any comments to the media after the humiliating Stuttgart loss. But Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said he saw a silver lining in the club's worst crisis in years.

"I'm happy that we're getting knocked around," Beckenbauer told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "That can give the club a new direction, a chance to say 'Let's go'. The last year things have stagnated. It wasn't the Bayern with a fighting spirit."