Thomas Tuchel is leaving FC Bayern after the season. The Tuchel era brought the Munich team numerous painful bankruptcies – the decline at a glance.
End of March 2023. Thomas Tuchel becomes coach of FC Bayern Munich – in the middle of the season and shortly after a 1:2 against Bayer Leverkusen. The answer should be that Tuchel should replace Julian Nagelsmann: He should lead the desolate record champions to their former strength.
At his first press conference in his FCB coaching role, Tuchel announced that he would not make any changes to the system of the Bayern game, but would fine-tune details and work on processes.
“Less is more,” he said at the time. A sentence that could be written in bold letters over the entire Tuchel era. Less performance, fewer titles, less stability. Only one thing was constant: far too many defeats, too many for Bavaria’s self-image.
Thomas Tuchel also fails at Bayer Leverkusen
Almost eleven months after the aforementioned press conference: Leverkusen again. Only this time it is Thomas Tuchel under whose wing FCB loses: With a disastrous 0:3, the gap to the league leaders, who are unbeaten this season, grows to five points.
Worse still, it’s just the start of a three-loss week. Experts see the day as a possible turning point in the Bundesliga. Others see him as the sure beginning of the end of the Tuchel era. But what happened in just eleven months between the two defeats against Bayer? A look back in ten acts – or low points:
April 4th, 2023 – the first title hits the fan
The second game under Thomas Tuchel – and already the first title given away. Tuchel’s debut, the 4-2 home win against Borussia Dortmund, still gave reason for confidence. Three days later, Tuchel had to write off his first title. In the DFB Cup, SC Freiburg won 2-1 in the Allianz Arena with a goal from Lucas Höler in added time and moved into the semi-finals. “It’s obviously a big disappointment,” commented Tuchel.
April 11, 2023 – Disappointment against Manchester City
Tuchel said after the Champions League quarter-final first leg that he was “in love” with his team. And that after a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City. The premature exit from the premier class against the eventual title winners followed a week later in a 1-1 draw in Munich.
May 20, 2023 – Smack against RB Leipzig
On the penultimate Bundesliga matchday, the eleventh championship title in a row seemed like a utopia after a 3-1 defeat against Leipzig. “When you play so far below your own level, it’s difficult to win games,” said Tuchel. Jamal Musiala’s late winning goal to make it 2-1 in Cologne gave Munich the trophy again a week later because Borussia Dortmund made a fatal mistake with a 2-2 draw at home against Mainz.
12. August 2023 – Déjà vu in Leipzig
Leipzig again. In the hype surrounding the 100 million man Harry Kane, who was signed the day before, the DFB Cup winner with three-time goalscorer Dani Olmo in the Supercup is the party crasher in the Munich Arena. “The discrepancy between the form, the mood and what we get on the pitch is big,” analyzed Tuchel.
November 1, 2023 – the chance for the triple was lost
What a disgrace! Marcel Gaus scored for the third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken deep into stoppage time to make it 2-1. The great Bavarians even led through Thomas Müller in Ludwigspark. Munich’s chance of a treble was gone early in the season.
December 9, 2023 – the low point
After 36 minutes it was 0:3, after 90 minutes Bayern’s heaviest defeat under Tuchel was perfect. The German record champions lost 1:5 to Eintracht Frankfurt. “The entire team performance was unsatisfactory – and I count myself among them,” said Tuchel afterwards.
January 21, 2024 – Bremen also manages Bayern
The next Bayern dropout – and that after a short training camp in Portugal, which Tuchel previously rated as completely positive. Ex-Munich player Mitchell Weiser made the guests from Bremen cheer. Bayern boss Jan-Christian Dreesen spoke plainly after the 0-1: “We simply played boring football for the first 70 minutes.”
February 10, 2024 – the top game embarrassment
Leaders Leverkusen took a giant step towards their first championship title with a 3-0 win. Tuchel’s tactical and personnel measures failed and did not help his own team. The actors put forward failed. Tuchel had to congratulate Bayer coach Xabi Alonso. The Bayern coach made motivational statements: “We will only give up chasing when it is mathematically decided. We proved last year what can happen.”
February 14, 2024 – also Lazio Rome
Bayern had barely “digested” the defeat against Leverkusen, as Manuel Neuer said, when they had to go into the Valentine’s Day duel against Lazio. No ease, no joy of playing, no dominance – the day of love became a war of the roses for FC Bayern. If the Tuchel critics weren’t loud enough before the Champions League duel, then you could hear them roaring after the 1-0 defeat in Rome at the latest.
February 18, 2024 – the third competitive defeat in a row
Anyone who thought it couldn’t go any deeper was proven wrong just four days later. The German football record champions suffered a 2-3 defeat against VfL Bochum. The third competitive defeat in a row – that last happened nine years ago under Pep Guardiola.
But the general conditions were completely different back then: the Munich team already had the trophy in their hands and could afford to end the season easily.
Tuchel seemed less affected by the defeat against Bochum: “I feel the defeat today is different than the last two,” he said after the game – this time FCB didn’t deserve it, they were stronger, they would have dominated the game. That didn’t change the tenor: Tuchel’s swansong was more widely discussed than ever before.
In the video: BR24Sport reporter on the separation from Tuchel
BR24Sport live on Tuchel’s exit
What’s next after Tuchel at FC Bayern? Is the big upheaval coming? Plus a BR24Sport live with presenter Dominik Vischer and FC Bayern expert Florian Eckl from 5:30 p.m. on BR24Sport and in the ARD media library.
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Source: BR24Sport February 21, 2024 – 6:30 p.m