Max Eberl
Bayern boss takes on Tuchel
Updated on 01/20/2025 – 05:17 amReading time: 3 minutes
Bayern manager Max Eberl praises the current coach. But his eulogy can also be understood as a dig against a former coach.
Sometimes what is said is not so important. But what is not said. It’s no different in football than in other lives. And what Max Eberl said on Sunday evening after his FC Bayern Munich’s 3-2 win was significant in several ways. The manager of the record champions gave his team high praise. The players would really get involved again, said Eberl. The mood is also excellent this season, which has so far been quite successful for the industry leader.
“I think the biggest asset we have is Vincent Kompany,” said Eberl, referring to the Belgian coach who was hired in the summer. “Because the same players have been there for the last few years and last year in particular you didn’t notice that.” Just that.
The allusion hung like a bell in the room. Eberl didn’t have to swing the clapper to let it ring where it should ring, with the former Bayern coach: Thomas Tuchel. The 51-year-old sports official did not mention the name of the former Mainz and Dortmund player, but everyone understood who or what was meant. The Bayern team was not a team under Tuchel, as Eberl said full of praise for Kompany.
“So players like Leon Goretzka, for example, but also like Kim, like Upamecano, Laimer, Gnabry, Coman, you can actually go through almost all of them, everyone has the desire and joy in football again and that of course makes a big difference in a team.” The Bayern manager now argued so passionately for the current coach that you could hear the criticism of his predecessor in every sentence, as the “Bild” newspaper reported, among others.
“He gives every player the importance, the playing times. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Manuel Neuer or the last ones who are on the bench or sitting in the stands. Everyone is talked to and that of course creates a value for the player. Often “We either talk to regular players or talk to players who are perhaps close to the regular place. He simply talks to everyone and makes everyone feel important at a moment and that is important for the players as well as for every person.”
Club patriarch Uli Hoeneß had spoken similarly about Tuchel and didn’t exactly give the coach, who was fired in spring 2024, a laurel wreath as a farewell. What was strange, however, was that the club received a number of rejections for the vacant coaching position on Säbener Straße and was unable to find a successor for the sacked Tuchel for weeks. Eberl had apparently initially considered extending the contract with Tuchel, and some players were also said to have spoken out in favor of continued employment – until Kompany was finally pulled out of the hat, somewhat surprisingly.
Tuchel has been the coach of the English national team since the beginning of the year and is currently touring the Premier League stadiums in this capacity to look at his future players. With the “Three Lions” he wants to have a say in the title at the upcoming World Cup in 2026. There are truly worse prospects for a coach.