Barcelona goal keeper Marc Ter Stegen has defended his recent comments on the club's inconsistent form.
The German international stated after their Champions League 2-1 win in the Czech Republic that the team needed to improve certain aspects of their game, and be more ruthless in front of goal.
He also added the squad had spoken about the dip in form, and insisted that all talks remained private within the first team squad.
However manager Ernesto Valverde was unhappy with his outspoken reaction, but Ter Stegen told an interview with German newspaper Bild that his comments were necessary.
"It is always important to be self critical."
"That should be the case after every game, regardless of whether you win."
"If improvements can be made, we must ackowledge them."
"We are professional footballers and we should be professional when being self critical."
Ter Stegen has joined up with the German national team head of the Euro 2020 qualification games against Belarus and Northern Ireland, where they need four points to ensure qualification.
Ter Stegen started in the friendly win over Argentina in October, however Bayern Munich keeper Manuel Neuer has reestablished himself as first choice during the qualification campaign.
