Coach instead of mourning at Bayern
What does Eberl plan to do with Kimmich, Kim and Co.?
May 10, 2024, 12:01 p.m
Real is over, the dreary everyday life awaits: After the dramatic exit in the Champions League, Max Eberl is in focus and under pressure as a coach searcher and squad planner. There are new names circulating on the coaching carousel – and what does the sports director have in store for top stars like Kimmich, Goretzka or Davies?
Max Eberl didn’t have much time to mourn after returning from Spain. After the dramatic exit from the Champions League at Real Madrid, the sports director of the badly hit FC Bayern was immediately faced with a dreary everyday life. The search for a suitable coach who can get the Munich team, without a title for the first time in twelve years, back on track, and the urgently needed change in the squad are keeping Eberl and the record champions very busy.
It’s a tricky task for Eberl to shape Bayern’s future – especially after the many cancellations in the past few weeks. But the 50-year-old doesn’t want to be put under pressure, even if he knows that the Munich crisis is “moving the world.” Nevertheless: “We know how to do our job,” Eberl has said repeatedly in the past few days: “Training starts on July 15th, then he has to be on the pitch.” And in general, he recommended, “that we should all calm down a little.”
This is a pious wish, especially for Bayern. Especially since the situation still seems completely open, it is difficult enough as it is. The new coach will probably want to know which squad is available. The stars, in turn, would like to know how a new coach plans. Recently, after the rejections of the preferred candidates Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann and Ralf Rangnick, Hansi Flick is being traded again – the man who made the triple dream come true in 2020. But Eberl has not commented on names and rumors for weeks. FC Bayern will, he emphasized again and again, “find the right coach.”
What happens to Kimmich, Goretzka or Davies?
The candidates are said to include former Bayern II coach Erik ten Hag, who is about to leave Manchester United. In this case there could even be a coaching swap, as Thomas Tuchel is said to be on the list at Man United. It was “no secret that I loved it at Chelsea, in England and in the Premier League, for sure,” said Tuchel before the Real game: “It was a very special time that I remember very fondly .”
Will he ever say this about his time in Munich? Rather not. In March 2023, Tuchel succeeded Nagelsmann – and will take over after the games on Sunday (5.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) against VfL Wolfsburg and on May 18th in Hoffenheim they say goodbye to Munich without a title.
From a distance, Tuchel can then watch how Bayern are rearranging themselves. Board boss Jan-Christian Dreesen has already tried the famous “Mia san mia”, which has recently suffered greatly: “We have already gone through deep trenches in the past. That is what should distinguish us as a Bavarian family: that we… come back stronger than before after such bitter defeats.”
With which players? Open. There is still speculation about names like Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, Serge Gnabry, Noussair Mazraoui, Min-Jae Kim, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman. One thing is clear: Eberl has a lot of work to do.