Oliver Kahn believes Louis van Gaal is "pushing his luck" at Bayern Munich after a midweek defeat to Roma in the Champions League.
But the Bundesliga is now their priority and club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge will not accept anything other than three wins and a draw from the remaining four league matches in 2010.
"It is a tall order, but we want to and have got to achieve it," he said.
Eintracht Frankfurt are the first opponents on Saturday before a trip to Schalke, a home game against St Pauli and then an away fixture in Stuttgart complete the schedule for this year.
Just one defeat would increase the pressure on Van Gaal, who has been warned by former goalkeeper Kahn not to take his club's warnings lightly.
"You hear that Van Gaal is not such an easy character," said Kahn to the Tz newspaper.
"Many things are accepted when you are successful, but if things don't go so well then certain types of behaviour are no longer tolerated.
"Van Gaal is pushing his luck. We should not forget that Bayern have always had big coaches who have been successful - he is not alone there.
"If a club is not pulling in the same direction at board level and at the coach's level, then this is extremely counter-productive."
Van Gaal can welcome captain Mark van Bommel back into his squad on Saturday, although the Dutchman is likely to start on the bench having missed the last 10 games through injury.
Hamit Altintop is a doubt and may not be able to face his brother Halil, who should lead the Frankfurt attack along with the league's top goalscorer Theofanis Gekas.
Frankfurt coach Michael Skibbe has already confirmed Alexander Meier will return to the starting XI after a recent injury absence.
And he has also stated his team will not be scared or intimidated when they take to the field at the Allianz Arena.
"It is a really tough match, but no tougher than any other Bundesliga game," he said.
"You have got to prove yourself in every single Bundesliga match. Our aim is to get a point out of Munich, if possible."
