Julian Nagelsmann comments on his end at FC Bayern in an interview. He would have liked the club to have more staying power – and refers to Klopp and Guardiola.
Julian Nagelsmann criticizes the way FC Bayern bosses treat their coaches. Today’s national coach would have liked more development time for the record champions.
“I was signed to Bayern with the aim of changing things. There are clubs that give you the time,” complained the current national coach in an interview with the news magazine “Der Spiegel”. “Jürgen Klopp was at Liverpool FC for five years before he became champions there for the first time. Pep Guardiola only won the Champions League title with Manchester City after seven years,” he draws a comparison to the Premiere League. “The coaches at Bayern Munich don’t get that much time to develop something,” said the 36-year-old.
Nagelsmann was signed by Bayern in the summer of 2021 for a high fee of millions from RB Leipzig as a long-term project and was given a five-year contract as a sign of trust. But he had to leave again during the second season. His successor Thomas Tuchel will also leave FC Bayern early again by the end of the season at the latest. His contract actually ran until 2025.
In this context, Nagelsmann complained about the manners in professional football. There is a lack of openness in the business. “What is communicated to the outside world after a separation has little to do with reality. But that’s how it has always been done in football, and it will be the same for the next 30 years,” said Nagelsmann, who has a contract with the DFB until after the home European Championships this summer. The future after that is open.
“Then everything was different”
The experiences in Munich made him “more careful, more sensitive”. “It’s not always super nice in football. It doesn’t help if you have a good relationship with the decision-makers. And I had that with Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić. We discussed how we wanted to deal with it together if a worst-case scenario occurs. But then everything was different,” he recalled the collaboration with CEO Kahn and sports director Salihamidžić as well as the separation process after a 1-2 defeat in Leverkusen in March 2023.
He was accused at the time of not being available after the defeat. In addition, he went on a skiing holiday with his partner during the international break following the game. “That was simply not true. I was in the office at the training ground on Säbener Strasse from Monday to Wednesday as normal. I was the only one, by the way, because none of the people in charge were there. I then went on a short vacation from Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning. That was also approved .”