“It’s about character, mentality”
New Bayern boss Max Eberl announces casting for title hunters
By Stephan Uersfeld
February 27, 2024, 1:29 p.m
On March 1, 2024, Max Eberl will take up his new position as sports director at FC Bayern Munich. His commitment comes during turbulent times. The 50-year-old has enormous tasks ahead of him, but shows himself to be combative in his first appearance and immediately calls for a casting.
Barely there and already chasing the title. Max Eberl, FC Bayern’s new sports director, appeared combative and full of conviction during his presentation. Despite the huge gap to Bayer Leverkusen, the 50-year-old wants maximum success in the first few months of his term in office. “I’m here to win titles,” said the former sports director of Borussia Mönchengladbach – and not just from the coming season. “In the unusual role of hunter,” Eberl now wants to make up for the eight points on Xabi Alonso’s club and “not give up the season yet.”
After eleven years of Bundesliga dominance, FC Bayern are in great danger of having their first titleless season since 2011/2012. Despite an extremely strong season in terms of points in the Bundesliga until a few weeks ago, Bayer Leverkusen has been heading towards the championship with seven league boots, not least since the humiliation of Germany’s largest club in the Bay Arena at the beginning of February. The record champions immediately fell into a crisis of meaning.
This resulted in the announced separation from coach Thomas Tuchel at the end of the season a week ago. This is accompanied by plans for a new start at FC Bayern, for which the new sports director Eberl will be responsible. Equipped with the DNA of the club, which he was able to absorb for 15 years starting with the Bambinis, and which once even took him to the new fan shop that was being built at the time, together with Didi Hamann, his teammate at FC Bayern Amateur in the 1990s, to pack up packages Super clubs, he should put the record champions back on track.
The example of Real Madrid
A huge task that Eberl now wants to tackle together with sports director Christoph Freund. Most recently there were media reports that the former RB Salzburg man was being demoted. But not in Eberl’s world. “Christoph is an absolute expert,” he said: “Hierarchies play no role in my world. There can be no question of disempowerment.”
Rather, both now want to take on the challenge of “bringing FC Bayern Munich forward.” Without a coach from the summer, the restructuring work for the record champions is now beginning with the search for a new man on the sidelines. FC Bayern has had repeated problems there since Pep Guardiola’s departure.
“We want to find a coach who suits Bayern Munich, who fits the ideas that Christoph and I have for the squad,” said Eberl and emphasized several times that not only top international stars should play in the Allianz Arena in the future, but also those who become these in Munich. “Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger have also developed,” he said. And then referred to the big players in world football – Real Madrid, who had succeeded in open heart surgery in recent years by installing young players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.
Madrid had signed the two midfielders for over 80 million euros (Tchouameni) and over 30 million euros (Camavinga), joining veterans Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos. The coach responsible for this? Carlo Ancelotti, who didn’t get two seasons at FC Bayern as Guardiola’s successor. “It will also be possible here in Munich to find and develop young players,” said Eberl about the tasks of a new coach and explicitly cited players like Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel as examples that this is already possible. The Frenchman Tel in particular had recently been flirting with leaving and was probably happy about the words.
Eberl doesn’t want to limit the search for a coach
However, Eberl did not want to comment on who exactly should follow Tuchel apart from the context of a new coach. With Alonso from Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who is currently considered the favorite, the former official from Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig remembered a “very interesting conversation” from three years ago.
At the time, Xabi Alonso was the coach of Real Sociedad’s second team in Spain and Eberl’s candidate as the future coach in Mönchengladbach. “It’s a touch too early for me,” replied Xabi Alonso Eberl. However, the conversation from back then does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about today, noted Eberl.
Regarding the future coach’s language skills, Eberl said: “It should be German or English, but French is a bit thin for me. That’s also a criterion, but not an exclusion criterion. I don’t want to limit myself too much.” The French football legend Zinédine Zidane is also considered a possible coaching candidate.
What will become of Kimmich?
Eberl didn’t want to put himself in the foreground. “I’m not a savior,” he said: “I want to get involved. I’m someone who can and wants to work very well in a team. I need the expertise of the people around me.” Both the search for a coach and a new squad structure are “not rocket science”.
Among other things, Eberl also has to deal with the dissatisfied national player Joshua Kimmich, whose contract expires in the summer of 2025. There is no need to talk about him, assured the new Munich sports director. “He has made an incredible journey, he has mentality and quality,” said Eberl, who is looking forward to discussions with the midfielder. But at the same time everyone has to show how important FC Bayern is to them.
And Eberl announced the title hunter casting at his first public appearance. “We are in a hunter role,” he emphasized several times: “Here, too, character and mentality are evident.”