What is the criticism of Freiburg?
Julian Nagelsmann is confusing something
A comment by Tobias Nordmann
04/06/2022 10:22 am
FC Bayern wins clearly at SC Freiburg – and still has to worry about being allowed to keep the three points. Because after a change mistake by Munich, the Breisgauer protest. Coach Julian Nagelsmann criticizes. But that is inappropriate.
In Germany there is freedom of expression. And that’s just as well. Everyone can say whatever they want. So does Julian Nagelsmann. And he spoke about SC Freiburg on Tuesday afternoon and confessed that he did not understand what the sports club was doing. On Monday evening he had lodged an objection to the rating of the Bundesliga game between the two teams because the guests from Munich were on the pitch with twelve men for a short time while the game continued. The sports club didn’t do that because they wanted to. But because he had to. However, that does not seem to have reached the Bayern Munich coach. He is surprised that the “mistake of a third party” is exploited because “in the 18 seconds you didn’t score two goals”.
Well, Nagelsmann is right about that. Freiburg would not have turned the game against the champion’s twelve chosen ones. Even in the wildest of scenarios, that’s not realistic. But, and that brings us to the error of the 34-year-old, that’s not the point. The hosts do not want to sneak a possible victory with their objection. Even if the three points would do the club a lot of good in the fight for a European Cup qualification. Which, by the way, is honestly (albeit clearly confusingly) admitted in the statement of reasons for the objection. The Freiburgers justify their objection above all with the fact that they now want to create “legal certainty” for comparable cases. And even if it wasn’t the main reason, the appeal is important for German football. Period.
“Special case FC Bayern” is avoided
And that’s exactly what it has to be about now. Just because. Because mistakes of all kinds have been punished and punished in the past. FC Bayern’s faux pas, which referee Christian Dingert didn’t notice at first, would now be dismissed as a small, funny trifle from Bundesliga history and wouldn’t do it justice. And would not be beneficial for the big club from Munich. The moaning about a “special case FC Bayern” would be huge. That would not be in the spirit of Nagelsmann, who had already asked on Saturday evening not to let the matter get too big. Sure, the club could endure a new national regulars’ table debate. He’s had to put up with much tougher verbal battles. That’s why the relaxed attitude of club boss Oliver Kahn, who had expected the objection and wants to let the courts decide, was so good.
They had made a clear decision in a similar case earlier this season. And to the detriment of the club, which had made an embarrassing faux pas. VfL Wolfsburg were kicked out of the DFB Cup in the first round because they had substituted six players. Five would have been allowed. Of course, this case is different. But there is also a dimension to FC Bayern’s faux pas that urgently needs to be clarified. When does a twelfth man on the field have to be punished? After a second? After a minute? After the first ball contact of the surplus player? After a path that opens up spaces? Difficult. And that’s why it needs to be clarified.
And somehow one might also believe that FC Bayern would not have acted similarly in such a case. Even if Nagelsmann emphasized exactly that. Simply because of its legal form as an AG, FC Bayern would have been forced to file an objection to clarify the extremely vague situation after the mistake. Like Borussia Dortmund, by the way. As a commitment to our own shareholders. From the point of view of both clubs, it would be at least problematic to explain to the shareholders why you don’t try everything to win a game off the pitch, on legal grounds.
Strange point of view
Nagelsmann would find it inappropriate to pat himself on the back for three points won on the green table. “I don’t know if you can pat yourself on the back if you play internationally because of three points that you didn’t actually win in sporting terms. I wouldn’t be so happy.” Well, the people of Freiburg would probably not do that. Being celebrated for such things doesn’t really fit with the image that the people of Freiburg have cultivated for years. And it also doesn’t fit in with the handling of the objection, for which the sports club took a lot of time, so it didn’t make it easy for itself.
And there’s another reason why you can’t understand the Munich coach’s barking. Even if FC Bayern lost the three points, the situation in the league would not become dramatic. The lead over the stumbling Borussia from Dortmund would still be six points. In tabular terms, the Bundesliga would again have a small duel for the title. In fact not. BVB is tormented too much with its own problems. With Erling Haaland, with a squad that absolutely needs to be changed and with mistakes that destroy any euphoria. The black and yellow, wrote colleague Stephan Uersfeld, are currently a “drug” that only sends his fans on a bad trip. Sure, FC Bayern is still playing against BVB. And yes, if both teams win all games before the summit on matchday 31, then there would be a real showdown. In Munich, where BVB has been behaving like a rabbit in front of a snake for years.