Arguments, management under fire and poor results – it is chaos at Bayern Munich

For football legend Lothar Matthäus it is a done deal: “It ‘my san mia’” is being “trampled underfoot” at Bayern Munich, the former Bayern player said last month. ‘My san mia‘ is the club’s slogan and Bavarian dialect for ‘we are us’. It represents a kind of unflappable mentality: everyone can say what they want about the people from Munich, but they will not be deterred. According to striker Thomas Müller, who has played at the club his entire career, it is about the idea “that we are strong and can win, but we know we have to work for it.” Has Bayern Munich lost that imperturbability and will this crisis of mentality turn into a sporting crisis?

The German success club is going through difficult times. The goal of the Munich resident every year is to… ‘triple‘: winning the competition, the cup and the Champions League. This was last achieved in 2020. This year, at the beginning of April, Bayern was already eliminated in the quarter-finals of the cup by Freiburg. On Wednesday evening, Bayern is also in danger of being thrown out of the Champions League by Manchester City, after the first leg in the quarter-finals was won 3-0 by the English.

Final victory is also far from certain in the Bundesliga, and that is special for the team that became champions for ten seasons in a row.

Also read
a hot transfer summer

Feyenoord, which is now the only Dutch club that is assured of the Champions League with a national title.” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/Y81nNvOZ2RHrO7f70vsAgu0OkIQ=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data99398696-b3fa26.jpg”/>

Last Saturday, Bayern drew against mid-table Hoffenheim. The lead over number two, Borussia Dortmund, has shrunk to two points.

Bayern Munich’s erratic performance prompted the board to replace coach Julian Nagelsmann, at Bayern since 2021, with former Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel in March.

Lothar Matthäus’s criticism primarily focuses on the dealings of Bayern directors Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic with Nagelsmann. The coach was on a winter sports holiday when it was decided in Munich that he had to be replaced. The news was leaked and made headlines before Nagelsmann himself was informed by the board. Under the watchful eye of the German tabloid press, the coach had to report to the club a day later to hear about his dismissal. Kahn said the decision had to do with Bayern’s play – which would have been unattractive and insufficient after the winter World Cup in Qatar.

Goalkeeper coach has to leave

Earlier, in February, criticized goalkeeper Manuel Neuer strongly criticized the decision of the board and Nagelsmann to dismiss goalkeeper coach Toni Tapalovic. Neuer, who has been recovering from a broken bone following a skiing accident since December, called the dismissal of ‘his’ goalkeeper coach a “huge blow” and felt passed over because nothing had been discussed with him.

In addition to the personal sensitivities, the chess game with the trainers costs the club a lot of money: the club paid 20 million euros to RB Leipzig two years ago for Julian Nagelsmann; his premature dismissal could cost the club a similar amount. According to reports, Tuchel is leaving Bild Earn 10 to 12 million euros per year.

German commentators are increasingly focusing on the duo of Kahn (former goalkeeper) and Salihamidzic (player at Bayern from 1998 to 2007). They would have let the relatively young Nagelsmann (35) struggle and dropped him overnight. Salihamidzic himself claimed that he “believed” in him “until the last second.”

After the loss against City, Sadio Mané punched teammate Leroy Sané

Last summer’s big purchase, Sadio Mané, came from Liverpool for 32 million euros, but did not flourish in Munich. Last week, Mané became controversial because he argued with his colleague Leroy Sané in the dressing room after the 3-0 defeat against Manchester City and punched him. Mané was suspended for the match against Hoffenheim. Only the signing of Matthijs de Ligt, from Juventus, has been widely praised.

Last week, in the rain in Manchester, things initially didn’t look that bad for Bayern. After trailing 1-0 in the first half, the team still seemed to have a chance of at least a draw in the second half. But after a second, unfortunate goal, the team collapsed.

The team actually wanted to boost their self-confidence against Hoffenheim, but that also failed. “This is difficult to explain,” said midfielder Joshua Kimmich afterwards. Thomas Müller said he was “in shock” about his own performance.

Thomas Tuchel blames the loss on a lack of “conviction, energy and fire”. He acknowledged that the task in Bavaria is tougher than he had thought when he took office four weeks ago.

In any case, the abrupt change of coach, so close to the end of the season, does not make Bayern Munich better than it was. Before the return against Manchester City on Wednesday evening at the Allianz Arena, Tuchel said he still hoped for the semi-finals. But he also realizes that it is virtually impossible: “It would almost be a miracle.”

To share





Email the editor