Leon Goretzka thinks one of the recent problems at Bayern Munich has been that the players haven’t been enjoying their football.
The German champions scraped past second-tier Bochum in the DFB-Pokal, and needed late goals from Serge Gnabry and substitute Thomas Muller in order to progress.
They went behind when Alphonso Davies turned a cross into his own net, and the visitors needed almost 50 minutes to restore parity.
It was a difficult night for Goretzka against his hometown club and he believes the struggles are partly down to a lack of enjoyment.
"I think we need to get the fun back," he said after the second-round win over his former club.
"I talked about this in the dressing room. It was a night game and we should just go out and have fun. But that was missing.
"For sure it was a weak performance. I can't really remember any chances. It was a bad game from us."
Manuel Neuer, meanwhile, was left wondering whether Bayern Munich really wanted to advance in the cup following the narrow victory.
A poor first half forced coach Niko Kovac to call Robert Lewandowski from the bench and led captain Neuer to question the squad's desire.
"The way we played in the first half was really sad and disappointing," Neuer said.
"I don't know the reason, whether we were not there in our heads or we just didn't want to qualify. That's what it looked like anyway.
"It's important that everyone starts with themselves. We don't need to talk about individual players or the system or the coach.
"It's important for us as professionals to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror."
The victory was Bayern's third on the bounce in all competitions but continued a series of below-par showings against modest opposition.
Since losing at home to Hoffenheim, Kovac's men have drawn with Augsburg and scraped past Olympiacos, Union Berlin and Bochum.
They currently sit second in the table as they bid for an eighth consecutive German title, but this season’s Bundesliga is seen as potentially one of the most competitive in a long time, and there is a risk that Bayern could lose their crown