Actually, Uli Hoeneß has largely withdrawn from the operational business at Bayern Munich. But in the days of the crisis, the honorary president put himself in the limelight in a symbolic way. Not a good sign for Oliver Kahn.
It’s not going well at Bayern Munich. This is not only shown by the fact that Munich lost the championship lead to Borussia Dortmund after the embarrassing 3-1 defeat in Mainz last weekend and threaten to miss the German championship for the first time in eleven years.
The fact that Uli Hoeneß is publicly back on Säbener Straße is also an indicator of the tense situation of the record champions. And not a good sign for the incumbent bosses. His visit to FC Bayern’s training ground, including a lively chat with coach Thomas Tuchel, provided topics of conversation, fueled speculation or could be a classic “Hoeneß move”.
Hoeneß’ influence: How much does he still have to say?
In 2019, Uli Hoeneß vacated his presidential post at FC Bayern and withdrew almost completely from the operative business at the record champions. The honorary president is just a simple member of the supervisory board at the record champions. However, the fact that Hoeneß apparently still has a lot to say with the record champions is shown by Tuchel’s words of acceptance when he was introduced as Julian Nagelsmann’s successor: “My express thanks for the trust go to Oliver Kahn, Hasan Salihamidzic, Herbert Hainer and Uli Hoeneß.”
news diversionary tactics conceivable
But Hoeneß had actually held back in the end. Similar diversionary maneuvers, which diverted media attention from the team to himself, were not uncommon during his playing days. Just remember the “Basic Law PK” in which Kahn’s predecessor Karl-Heinz Rummenigge criticized the media for their reporting on FC Bayern and appealed to the human dignity laid down in Article Five of the Basic Law.
Just minutes later, Hoeneß found that ex-player Juan Bernat almost cost Bayern the Champions League. For days and weeks, German sports journalism knew no other topic. The team and coach Niko Kovac were able to work in peace. The feuds that Hoeneß regularly fought with Bremen’s Willi Lemke as manager of Munich have not been forgotten either. In this respect, the visit of the Honorary President during training could also be interpreted as such a diversionary maneuver.
Succession for management level hotly debated
On May 22, the supervisory board – led by Uli Hoeneß – will meet and decide on the future of Oliver Kahn and/or sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. Numerous names are already being hotly debated for a possible replacement of the Kahn post. Even a temporary return campaign by ex-boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is said to have been an issue. In addition, names like Philipp Lahm, Oliver Bierhoff, Axel Hellmann and Bastian Schweinsteiger are played in the excited Munich environment.
Even Hoeneß son Florian is named as a candidate. Hoeneß had recently rolled out the carpet for Schweinsteiger should he express interest in a job in the club’s management. Then the doors at FC Bayern would “open wide”. According to Hoeneß in an AZ talk, Schweinsteiger had “made an unbelievable development in personality”. He is now a “well-established man and man of the world”.
duel against bottom of table
The Munich team can use seasoned men in the final sprint of the season. On Sunday, Bayern will welcome Hertha from Berlin, who is last in the table, in their home arena. Coach Tuchel’s team is actually going into the game as favorites, but in these weeks everything is possible with the record champions – including a visit from Uli Hoeneß during training.
Source: BR24Sport
04/27/2023 – 02:00 p.m
