Next low blow for FC Bayern: The Leverkusen debacle is followed by a 0-1 defeat in the Champions League. After the game at Lazio Rome, coach Thomas Tuchel responded with just one word about his situation as Bayern coach.
After FC Bayern Munich lost the Champions League game, Thomas Tuchel denied the question of whether he was worried about his job as a coach. “No,” was his one-word answer in the press conference after 0-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 at Lazio. But the questioner asked. “Do you think you are still the right coach for this team?” Tuchel reacted angrily. “I would like to talk about the game,” he said. And when asked again, a little louder: “I answered no.”
Even after the Leverkusen bankruptcy, Tuchel had to face unpleasant questions – his line-up in particular left many perplexed. He supposedly did better against Rome. The coach brought in two leading players, Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller, and in defense he decided not to experiment with a three-man chain.
Tuchel is still looking for “the key”
Nevertheless, Tuchel’s tactics didn’t work. In the first half, the record champions showed attractive football, but in the second half – as so often in recent games – the Bayern players just passed the ball to each other. “We completely lost track in the second half. But we still have a second leg,” said Tuchel on DAZN.
Tuchel is slowly running out of arguments. He repeatedly repeated in Rome that he could not explain the “drop in performance” in the second half. When asked about the reasons for the recurring problems, he replied: “We’re on it, the key definitely hasn’t been found yet.” And, yes: “It is of course my responsibility to get the team to do better.”
It was Tuchel’s tenth defeat in his 43rd competitive game as Bayern coach – the same number of times his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann had lost in 84 games. For the first time since 2015, Bayern also lost two competitive games in a row without scoring their own goal. In addition, out of 17 shots fired in the Olympic Stadium, not a single one was on goal.
Further support for Tuchel from the FCB management and players
Despite these desolate statistics, sports director Christoph Freund is not moving away from the coach. “We’re all in the same boat. It’s not easy now, but we’ll get out of this together, that’s our big goal,” said the Austrian in the mixed zone after the game. He sees Tuchel every day, how he interacts with the team and trains. “Of course he’s also struggling with the situation because he wants to see the team differently on the pitch,” said Freund. However, he is convinced that things will get better again, said the sports director.
The media would be welcome to have the coaching discussion, said Thomas Müller in the stadium catacombs when asked whether Tuchel was still the right coach. “Firstly, we players are the completely wrong people to contact,” said Müller and clearly added: “And that is also a bit disrespectful. Of course the sporting situation is not good at the moment and everything else that FC Bayern has in mind is that “It’s completely clear. Nevertheless, we work every day, we players and the coach too, to overturn the goal.”
You shouldn’t expect to tear yourself apart now. “We stand together and work towards the next game,” said the 34-year-old, looking ahead to next Sunday’s Bundesliga game in Bochum.
Source: BR24Sport February 15, 2024 – 10:54 a.m
