After the verbal exchange of blows with Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann, the impression remains: Like his predecessors, coach Thomas Tuchel at FC Bayern increasingly has to moderate topics that are not related to sports.
In the midst of the vaccination debate surrounding Joshua Kimmich during the corona pandemic and the Qatar discussions, Julian Nagelsmann was given the title of “Foreign Minister” at FC Bayern Munich, a title that, as far as we know, he really never wanted to achieve. After a formidable football year in 2020, in which he won every title there is in club football, Hans-Dieter, known as Hansi, Flick found himself in the middle of internal club skirmishes with the then sports director Hasan Salihamidžić. And Thomas Tuchel stood during the Sky interview on Saturday evening and said to his critic Lothar Matthäus, who was standing two meters away and Dietmar Hamann, who was not present, with biting irony: “Now we have won 4-0, you have to do a 180 degree turn – have fun with it!”
The three youngest FC Bayern coaches, three non-sporting stories in which the coach noticeably lacked support from the club, three examples of a change in the German football record champions. “In the past, something like this would have been dealt with by Uli Hoeneß, Kalle Rummenigge – or whoever at Bayern. That hasn’t happened now. And I find it irritating that Tuchel now has to decide for himself: Do I defend myself now? Or where is the support in the club?”, said former footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger on Sunday on “Blickpunkt Sport” on BR television.
Matthäus and Hamann criticize FCB coach Tuchel
Matthäus and Hamann have been teasing Tuchel in their expert role for a few weeks now, and Hamann noticed “no further development” under the coach. He was now forced to respond publicly. And so, six days before the next annual general meeting of FC Bayern Munich, one impression remains: It is somewhere in the past few years and all the changes off the field, especially the farewells of CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and President Uli Hoeneß a vacuum was created in this big football club.
A vacuum that apparently only the coaches can fill in their regular matchday press conferences. Unlike the rest of the club members, they are obliged to speak to the press at these events. And they are increasingly being asked non-sporting questions because they have not yet been answered elsewhere.
Hitzlsperger: Results help Tuchel in the debate
That was the case in the debate about Joshua Kimmich’s vaccination and Qatar and it is now also the case with the criticism from Matthäus and Hamann: The coach is not only the face of the club, he is also its voice, which polarizes all the unrest that it causes and radiant club, must be able to answer questions.
And that is certainly not always easy, even when it is the coach himself who is the focus of the criticism. “He may not feel the support that you need right now. If he is attacked, he needs people who have his back. If he doesn’t feel that, he has to defend himself,” says Hitzlsperger. But what helps the coach now are results – especially in the “further development debate”. The game in Dortmund was therefore the “best answer you can give”. This is also how Hitzlsperger explains Tuchel’s exuberant reaction to Matthäus and Hamann. (Incidentally, they more or less criticized them, but only in passing.)
In the video: Thomas Hitzlsperger about Bayern coach Tuchel in “Blickpunkt Sport”
“Attack department” at FC Bayern is still missing
The reaction from the rest of the club? It only followed publicly on Sunday, when most of the television sets had already been switched off and the great attention had evaporated. FC Bayern President Herbert Hainer was interviewed at “Magenta Sport” and praised offensively: “Overall, I think it’s good that Thomas put up a stop sign. And said: ‘Now it’s good again. Up to here and not.’ further.’ I like that he is so defensive. Because he has enough pressure, like all of us at FC Bayern Munich.”
Then he raises a point. Like his predecessors, Tuchel actually already has enough sporting tasks for the record champions, so he should actually have to deal with fewer side issues. But you also notice: Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and sports director Christoph Freund (as well as their predecessors Oliver Kahn and Salihamidžić) approach their tasks noticeably more calmly than Hoeneß and Rummenigge. Less of the “attack department” type, which constantly shoots its verbal poison darts and gets the chief critics to reason.
Hoeneß praises Tuchel’s predecessor Nagelsmann
At least in the background they are said to have already put pressure on the TV station. Moderator Sebastian Hellmann reported on “Bild TV” that there had already been an exchange with those responsible at FC Bayern: “Bayern somehow had the feeling that we weren’t fair that day. We want to get closer. We have “I don’t want a confrontation.” Hellmann also wants to speak to Tuchel’s advisor.
Incidentally, the coaches have sometimes felt the “attack department” more internally recently. Nagelsmann and Flick had problems with Salihamidžić and/or Kahn, and Tuchel was allowed to leave a few weeks ago Hear explicit praise from Uli Hoeneß for his predecessor Nagelsmann in the BR regulars’ table. Because he said that it was “not necessarily smart” to replace the coach.
Immediately before the second round of the DFB Cup Hoeneß Tuchel now promised winter transfers, if the club is then “still in all three competitions”. It was the first public admission from the supervisory board that the squad might be “too thin,” something Tuchel has been criticizing since the damned summer transfer phase. Now the FCB has failed at 1. FC Saarbrücken. What this means for Hoeneß’ announcement is not yet clear.
Mazraoui issue resolved from within the board
Another example recently showed that the vacuum does not always apply to all club issues: the debate about Noussair Mazraoui is a notable exception. It also reveals what a chance Bayern have in their internal relationship with their coach if they resolve debates elsewhere. The club published its statement on the decision to keep the Moroccan in the squad after his pro-Palestine posts just before Tuchel’s press conference.
Although it was Tuchel again who was the first club representative to appear in front of the cameras, a few minutes later it was clear to Tuchel how happy he was to be able to refer to the club’s statements at the subsequent matchday press conference – rather than the general ones Club decision to be able to talk about the importance of Mazraoui and Israeli Daniel Peretz in the dressing room.
On the subject of Matthäus and Hamann versus Tuchel, Hitzlsperger said that it would now be best if the skirmishes were over: “If everyone says: ‘Now we have dealt and received. End of the announcement. Now we’re talking about football again!’ “That probably remains wishful thinking.
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Source: Blickpunkt Sport November 5th, 2023 – 9:45 p.m
