No commitment to the goalkeeper
Nagelsmann fights against Neuer after an interview
2/5/2023 6:02 p.m
FC Bayern has been upside down since Manuel Neuer’s critical interview. Now Julian Nagelsmann is also speaking about the Munich posse. The head coach complains that the goalkeeper is causing unrest in the club and that this is “not an easy phase”. The coach does not want to say whether the new captain will stay.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann is also critical of Manuel Neuer’s statements in two interviews and the resulting fuss at Bayern. “From my perspective, I would not have given the interview, especially if it reads that the club is in the foreground,” said Nagelsmann on DAZN before the Munich game at VfL Wolfsburg. “Of course that doesn’t exactly help to calm things down, it’s in the gazettes and it occupies the whole of football in Germany.”
Nagelsmann reported that he explained to Neuer the separation from goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic “well before the interview” in private, among other things, that it was “a good conversation”. “The way I chose not to make it public, to tell him the reasons why the separation came about, was the right one in my opinion,” emphasized the coach. “In general, it’s always the case with me, I’m a person in need of harmony, my door is never closed, even if I had chosen a different path.”
“Everything else is pie in the sky”
In an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and “The Athletic”, Neuer verbally attacked the record champions’ club leadership for the separation from Tapalovic. That was “the craziest” thing he’s experienced in his career, said the goalkeeper who was missing for a long time with a broken leg. “For me it was a blow when I was already on the ground. I felt like my heart was being ripped out.” At the request of the German Press Agency, Bayern boss Oliver Kahn had announced “clear talks” with Neuer.
Nagelsmann did not specifically answer the question of whether Neuer was still the captain when he returned after his broken leg. “Manu should get fit again and enjoy football again, it’s not an easy phase. In general, I’ve always emphasized that he’s the best goalkeeper in the world, I hope he comes back healthy, everything else is a dream of the future.”