“It can’t go on like this at Bayern Munich. There must now be a tough analysis and a relentless review with consequences, on and off the pitch. Regardless of names or positions. Overall, far too many mistakes were made,” said TV expert and columnist Lothar Matthäus.
While some see CEO Oliver Kahn in the criticism and thus shake, Matthäus, like some players allegedly, sees the blame for sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. He made mistakes and apparently not only made good transfers. “We all praised him for the great names, but this team has no bite, no will, no real identification with this club. Otherwise they would play football differently,” said the 62-year-old, who mainly mourns Erling Haaland’s non-signing.
Other experts are also speaking up a lot these days and are looking for explanations. Neo-Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel is also responsible for former professional Didi Hamann: “If I have a new coach who loses more often in eleven games than his predecessor in 37, I can’t say that it’s only the team’s fault. The coach also has a part in it, how much we don’t know.”
A former Bayern captain, Stefan Effenberg, recognizes physical problems due to the many relapses this season – in the 3-1 draw against Leipzig a lead was lost for the eighth time: “I have the impression that they are not able to over 90 minutes to march.” Another, Michael Ballack, like most people around Bayern, expects personal consequences: “Primarily in the squad. But management is also thinking.”
Bavaria in front of a sporting super meltdown
Now the people of Munich are actually facing a sporting meltdown: After the premature end in the Champions League and in the DFB Cup, both in the quarter-finals, the championship also seems to be over, and for the first time since 2012 they would be left empty-handed. Back then, you finished second three times, followed by a turning point – and a dynasty that not only included winning ten championships, but also the DFB Cup five times and the premier class twice.
Around the historic year 2020, in which six titles were won (“Sextuple”), two bosses said goodbye to the operative business with the ubiquitous Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and cleared the way for Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic . And they are now facing the ruins of a season whose sticking point was the dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann.
Nagelsmann-Aus as the sticking point
In the Ides of March, the Bayern world still seemed reasonably okay, Bayern led the table with an eight-point lead over Dortmund, were in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and had the star ensemble around Paris Saint-Germain relatively sovereign in the Champions League eliminated. A 2-1 defeat in Leverkusen later it all came to a head: Munich parted ways with Nagelsmann, whom they had taken from RB Leipzig two years ago for a record fee of 25 million euros, and relied on star coach Thomas Tuchel.
The constellation between coach and team no longer fit, Kahn and Salihamidzic defended the decision that lifted football Europe out of their chairs. A 35-year-old, who has proven to be a talented coach at stations such as TSG Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, was given less than two years at Bayern, even though he just had chances of winning all three titles. The fluctuations in performance after the winter break and the fact that Tuchel was available spoke in favor of the change.
Tuchel gambled away everything with Bayern
Although Tuchel then still won the league summit against Dortmund “bayernlike” 4:2, after that pretty much everything went down the drain. 1: 2 home defeat in the DFB Cup against Freiburg, out in the Champions League against Manchester City including a tangible cabin dispute between Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane and probably the championship that you no longer hold in your own hands.
The new Bayern coach was stunned and at a loss after the 3-1 draw against RB Leipzig on Saturday. “It’s just too little effort, well below what we want to play. We have so many issues, you don’t know where to start.” Salihamidzic has a similar experience. “The problems run deep. But I can’t say what our problems are,” said the ex-professional, who wants to take a close look at the squad he has put together. “We’ll sit down after the season and see what can be done.”
Player also in the criticism
Even though Bayern were represented in all three competitions under Nagelsmann, the season was far from ideal. All in all, it is now the weakest for twelve years, under Nagelsmann you could afford extreme form fluctuations again. “A reflection of the season. There were too many games like today,” said Joshua Kimmich, one of the leaders in Bayern’s game after the bankruptcy against Leipzig, which many spectators didn’t follow to the end in the stadium.
Because Tuchel was on the market, the decision was made in favor of him and against Nagelsmann, who the Bavarian leadership no longer trusted to lead the ship into the port. He would have preferred to wait until the summer (“But it’s not always a request concert”), knowing full well what could happen to him. The worst case is imminent, also because new star players like Mane have never found their way.
“What does FC Bayern want to be?”
Which of course is also due to the players themselves, the market value of the squad is almost double that of Dortmund. “When we stop playing by our principles, it becomes a craps game. Then we win or lose,” criticized Tuchel, whose Bavarians are “in a dead end” for the “kicker”.
The trade journals see an identity debate coming up for Bayern, who in two years in a row have not replaced a goal guarantor in Robert Lewandowski and David Alaba, an absolute top performer who obviously held the team together. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” therefore asked: “What does FC Bayern want to be?” Soon after the end of the season, an answer should be found.