Will FC Bayern stick with the coach?
Rumors about Tuchel’s successor are growing wildly
February 16, 2024, 8:26 p.m
FC Bayern is in a state of alarm. After two zero defeats at Lazio Rome and Bayer Leverkusen, Munich are facing their first season without a title in what feels like ages. The criticism of coach Thomas Tuchel is correspondingly great. This triggers speculation ranging from creative to absurd.
The rumor mill is bubbling intensely. “The Special One” José Mourinho would (once again) They say in Munich that they are already learning German. And FC Bayern are reportedly already talking about the return of “sextuple coach” Hansi Flick. Or maybe Thomas Müller as player-coach alongside “Tiger” Hermann Gerland? Such (crazy) speculations, whether realistic or not, only show one thing: the situation at the record champions is explosive and the alert level has long been red.
Despite the severe setbacks caused by the bankruptcies in Leverkusen and Rome, Bayern’s famous Wagenburg still holds up. How long remains to be seen. But the ailing coach Thomas Tuchel can hardly afford any further setbacks. Already on Sunday (5.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker at ntv.de) Anything other than a win at VfL Bochum would be devastating. Then the bosses around CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen would probably have to rethink their plan to continue with Tuchel at least until the summer.
What remains in the current crisis are the usual slogans of perseverance. Tuchel is “of course struggling with the situation, which is very difficult for all of us. But our goal is to fight our way out of it together. We are all in the same boat,” said sports director Christoph Freund. President Herbert Hainer, meanwhile, wants an “initial spark to overturn the much-quoted bullshit on the square.” Giving up, he added to “Münchner Merkur/tz”, “is not something we do. FC Bayern always believes in itself, right up to the last minute.”
Criticism of the players is also growing
However, said Sky expert Lothar Matthäus, “you have to question a lot of things. The players are unsettled. The only question is: Why? What unsettled them?” His demand: “Tuchel has to get the players behind him, he has to form a team, he has to restore compactness on and off the pitch.” At the moment there is “no feeling of togetherness”.
There are not only rumors about Tuchel. There are also reports and speculation about possible departures of stars in the summer and a squad restructuring. According to “Kicker”, the bosses would closely monitor the performances of Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Matthijs de Ligt and Leroy Sané, all of whom are among the top earners at FC Bayern. It is also being discussed whether Noussair Mazraoui, Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano and Raphael Guerreiro actually have Bayern caliber.
The big question that hangs over everything, however, is: How long will things continue for Tuchel and FC Bayern? The 50-year-old seems increasingly annoyed by questions about his future, but also perplexed by the often lifeless appearances of his stars. Tuchel has already had to accept ten defeats in 43 games as Bayern coach, while his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann only had ten defeats after 84 games. However, Bayern are still afraid of wearing out their sixth coach since 2016 after the time with Pep Guardiola. And what does Tuchel say? “We have to move on.”