Ribery remain a cut above Kingsley Coman and
Douglas Costa despite injury problems.
Pep Guardiola declared Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa
have their work cut out to reach the level shown by Arjen
Robben and Franck Ribery at Bayern Munich.
Coman arrived at the Allianz Arena on loan – with the option of
a permanent transfer – from Juventus in August, while Costa
was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in June.
The pair made impressive starts at Bayern, with the 19-year-old
scoring twice in four Bundesliga appearances and the Brazilian
supplying five top-flight assists in eight outings.
But Guardiola still feels the duo have a long way to go in order
to match the quality of established wingers Robben and Ribery,
who were part of Bayern's treble-winning side in 2012-13.
"Coman and Douglas Costa must eat a lot of soup if they are to
reach the level of Arjen and Franck in this club," the Spaniard
said on Friday.
Robben has made just three league appearances this season
and Ribery is yet to feature, though they are nearing a return
from the sidelines.
Guardiola also has to contend with injuries to Mario Gotze,
Sebastian Rode, Medhi Benatia, Jan Kirchhoff and Holger
Badstuber.
He believes that such issues could stop Bayern from
challenging for trophies on all fronts.
"I only have 13 players and a lot of problems with injured
players," Guardiola added.
"To win the title with 13 players is impossible.
"We need the players back, and then we can fight for all the
titles."
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