The heated Tuchel debate even overshadows FC Bayern’s groundbreaking game in Leverkusen. Both the criticism of him and his reaction are polarizing.
Julian Buhl from FC Bayern reports from Munich
Thomas Tuchel is currently experiencing a strange déjà vu as head coach of FC Bayern. The circumstances surrounding the game in Leverkusen on Saturday (6.30 p.m.) are strikingly similar to those of the duel played in Dortmund at the beginning of November (4-0). Just like back then, in the run-up to this game, which was so groundbreaking for the championship fight, one top player after the next with the league leaders left him due to injury.
Tuchel, who can still hope for their return, at least in the case of Dayot Upamecano, Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer, will therefore be forced to improvise again, as he has done so often this season.
As before the much-noticed showdown with BVB, these are once again just side notes that are pushed into the background by even larger discussions. At the center – then as now – is Tuchel himself.
Tuchel’s expert dispute escalates again
Hamann had described Tuchel and FC Bayern as the biggest misunderstanding since former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann and insinuated that Tuchel had actively applied to FC Barcelona with a general statement at a fan club meeting. This was followed by a public apology from Hamann, which Tuchel refused to accept after Saturday’s 3-1 win against Gladbach.
“I don’t believe him. The things that happened were taken completely out of context and were said deliberately. Statements were deliberately made that were not true,” said Tuchel. Since then, a number of other experts have come forward to discuss whether Tuchel’s reaction was appropriate or not. Felix Magath described his successor as Bayern coach in the Sport1 one-two as “far too sensitive, far too inconfident for this position he has”.
Doesn’t Tuchel have the right to defend himself?
Ex-national player Thomas Strunz claimed on Welt TV: “All these discussions with the experts, like Hamann or Lothar Matthäus, show thin-skinnedness. That’s not really confident.” So a head coach doesn’t have the right to defend himself with all the vehemence and emotion if he finds statements about him and his work to be inaccurate and unobjective?
In any case, Stefan Effenberg “cannot understand” Hamann’s harsh criticism “at all”. “The best thing about the whole story was that he apologized for it at the end. And realized that it wasn’t right and that it was a mistake,” writes Effenberg in his t-online column (you can read the entire column here): “If criticism comes along, I have no problem with it. But it should never be personal.”
FC Bayern, which vehemently defended itself against Hamann’s criticism of Tuchel with a statement from CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and sports director Christoph Freund, is now trying to calm the debate behind the scenes. The focus should be fully on sports and the important game in Leverkusen. That’s why all media activities to which the record champions are not contractually obliged were canceled this week.
Hoeneß also faces criticism of Tuchel
According to t-online information, the mood within the club towards Tuchel is nowhere near as negative as was recently portrayed in media reports. Honorary President Uli Hoeneß in particular took offense because quotes from him that were sometimes taken out of context were used and suggested a supposed break.