Bayern Munich slipped to second place in the Bundesliga after losing 2-1 on Sunday. “That wasn’t what Bayern Munich means,” said Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic afterwards. “We missed everything.” Salihamidzic saw the reason for the defeat in the attitude. “I’ve rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little duel, so little assertiveness,” he said.
Despite a top squad, Kahn and Co. apparently did not see any sustainable sporting improvement under the coach, who recently celebrated his greatest international Bayern success with the round of 16 coup against Paris Saint-Germain. The bosses saw the seasonal goals endangered by constant fluctuations in performance. With the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB Cup, however, all three titles are still possible.
Tuchel should take over
The successor to 35-year-old Nagelsmann, who has a contract until 2026, is to be replaced by Tuchel, who is currently without a club. The German was released at Chelsea this season, having won the Champions League with the Londoners in 2021. In 2020, the former Mainz and Dortmund coach with PSG lost to Munich in the final of the premier class. It would be piquant that Tuchel could coach Bayern for the first time against BVB on April 1 in Munich.
The timing of the sensational personnel comes as a surprise before the league hit and the knockout duels with SC Freiburg in the DFB Cup and Manchester City in the premier class, but is based on the current overall constellation. Tuchel is in demand on the international market. He was also said to be a candidate at Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur. Either now or not again could have been the question in the Bayern calculation.
In the spring of 2018, Munich had hesitated at Tuchel. At that time, then-President Uli Hoeneß had hoped for too long to be able to persuade Jupp Heynckes to continue. In the end came Niko Kovac, who had to leave early despite winning the championship and the DFB Cup in his second year in office. Something similar is now repeated with last year’s master coach Nagelsmann.
Nagelsmann-Aus surprises professionals
There were also too many sideshows around Nagelsmann. For example, the replacement of Manuel Neuer confidante Toni Tapalovic as goalkeeper coach, which he promoted, caused a stir. With a relationship with a reporter, he made himself vulnerable internally.
The report of the alleged Nagelsmann-Aus also surprised the pros at FC Bayern. “That took me by surprise. I’ll try to fit into the new coach’s concept as much as possible,” said full-back Joao Cancelo, on loan from Manchester City, after Portugal’s 4-0 win over Liechtenstein.