Robben: Bayern are 'hungry' for success

Posted Tuesday, July 24, 2012 by ESPN

Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben has warned the rest of the Bundesliga that he and his team-mates are "hungry" for the title this season.

The Bavarians ended last season empty-handed, despite reaching the finals of the Champions League and DFB-Pokal and finishing second behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, and that bitter experience has given Robben and his colleagues even more motivation for the 2012/13 campaign.

"We have put a season behind us in which we were so close to winning every title, yet we did not win anything in the end," the Holland international said.

"That makes you even more hungry for titles. We want to put that right.

"I can already feel that the team has the will, even if many of our important players have not been in training yet because of their holidays after Euro 2012."

Robben looked particularly motivated in training last week and was not happy with the first setback of the summer, a 3-2 defeat to Napoli in a friendly match.

"You never want to lose," he told the Bild newspaper. "We have always got to win.

"We conceded a simple goal to make it 1-1 just before half time and that should not happen to us.

"These are things that would lose us points in the Bundesliga."

Robben and Bayern arrived in China on Monday for a five-day pre-season tour which includes two friendly matches on Tuesday and Thursday.

Captain Philipp Lahm and vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger have both been left behind in Munich to work on an individual training plan aimed at getting them up to speed with their team-mates come the weekend, when coach Jupp Heynckes will be able to count on his entire squad for the first time in pre-season.