Julian Nagelsmann is in his second season as head coach at Bayern Munich. The minimum goal for the Munich team is the German championship again this year, and the title in the Champions League and the DFB Cup is also being targeted. The Bayern coach himself leaves no doubts about this ambitious goal.
A possible triple of championship, DFB Cup and premier class would be a “very special success” for the star coach, as he himself emphasized in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag”.
Nagelsmann has the chance to replace Pep Guardiola as the youngest head coach of a Champions League winner. Nagelsmann is currently 35 years young, Guardiola was 38 when he first triumphed with FC Barcelona in 2009.
The Bayern coach still has three years to triumph with his Munich star ensemble in the premier class to set the new age record: “Of course that would make me happy,” confirmed Nagelsmann.
In April there will be a direct duel between Nagelsmann and Guardiola when FC Bayern take on Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The first leg will take place on April 11 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Nagelsmann sees himself as capable of criticism
In the interview, Nagelsmann was also asked how he would sum up his own football philosophy in one sentence. The soccer teacher explained that he had already been asked this question in his thesis: “Controlling the game through possession of the ball and changing tempo. That still applies today.”
At least twice in the current Bundesliga season, FC Bayern failed to implement this approach of their head coach, losing two games of the season against FC Augsburg in September (0:1) and Borussia Mönchengladbach in February (2:3).
Nagelsmann made the fact that he was not good at dealing with sporting defeats. “After defeats I have a feeling of shame. I am self-critical and question many things. I am self-critical and then question many things. And I am always open to factual criticism,” said FCB line manager, who had repeatedly shown himself to be extremely thin-skinned and irritated after setbacks in the past.