Starting next summer, FC Bayern and Thomas Tuchel will go their separate ways. A farewell with question marks – and with possibly unforeseeable consequences.
FC Bayern and head coach Thomas Tuchel will go their separate ways after this season. This means that what my feeling had already told me after the 2:3 in Bochum happened: that it would result in a separation in the summer. This is also the right step.
One can discuss whether this should not have been done immediately. Basically, Tuchel and his team are still motivated to get the most out of this season. After that there will be a clean break and a complete realignment, as CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has already explained.
The decision to separate shows that they are not satisfied with the development that the team has undergone under Tuchel for almost a year. It didn’t go as hoped. But you also have to hold the team responsible. The focus must now be on them too. It’s not just a matter of changing the coach now, the main thing now is how Bayern will realign itself with the team.
There has to be a change, fresh blood and new life into the team. Because you can clearly see in the last few weeks that this is exactly what she has lost.
Bringing consistency back to this important position is something the club will have to work on in the future. So that you can concentrate on the essentials, as is absolutely necessary at a top club. The many coaching changes didn’t help, even if they were able to celebrate great successes with Flick and the sextuple in 2020.
Nevertheless, Bayern has now recognized that they have to change something. One can debate whether a direct separation would not have been better. Finding a suitable interim coach wouldn’t have been easy either. Tuchel has the inner ambition to end the season as positively as possible, with the greatest possible success. But now the team is primarily responsible for this. The players have a responsibility and an obligation. They know exactly where they stand. You now have no excuses and have to give answers on the pitch.
After all, the home European Championship is just around the corner. When it comes to Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané and Co., we can’t just talk about the club. No, they now have to perform in order to be able to take part in the European Championships in their own country. To do this, they have to get back to 100 percent as quickly as possible. And they clearly aren’t at the moment.
To present themselves like they did in the defeats in Bochum, Rome, Leverkusen or even against Bremen – that cannot be FC Bayern’s aim. That is not how it works.
For Tuchel, his year at Bayern didn’t go the way he imagined. But it is also an experience for him that he will learn from. He certainly hoped for a lot more than when he signed the contract. But one should not forget the circumstances under which he came: in an extremely difficult phase.