The German record champions have disappointed time and time again this season. There are reasons for this – which are not new.
That’s not a surprise. No shock. No sensation.
The sad reality of FC Bayern Munich in February 2024 is: This bankruptcy was to be expected. 2:3 at VfL Bochum, a team that was dismantled 0:7 at home by Bayern six months ago. This new low point – the third competitive defeat in a row – is a frightening testament to the current level of performance for the German record champions. It’s no longer even enough for a victory that was once believed to be certain against a potential relegation candidate – with all due respect to the Bochum team, who always fight with self-sacrifice.
As of now, the championship seems to be over. Bayer Leverkusen is a comfortable eight points ahead of Munich with twelve match days to go and currently does not give the impression that it will be able to squander this lead in a performance slump of historic proportions. By the way, FC Bayern currently doesn’t seem to be in a position to achieve the twelve Bundesliga wins in a row that they need at the same time.
It is possible that Bayern will somehow drag themselves into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after losing 1-0 in the first leg at Lazio Rome. Teams like Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid will most likely be waiting there. It’s hard to imagine what would happen to Bayern in their current state.
The bigheads from Säbener Strasse, who are used to success, now have to admit that, as far as human judgment is concerned, this season is over. This FC Bayern in its 2023/24 composition will and must be history by the summer at the latest. But: That’s not a surprise. Too much went and is going wrong on the Isar this year. And: Too little happens for nothing to go wrong.
Public inaction
Now it must finally be clear to everyone where FC Bayern is currently struggling: everywhere.
“We don’t want to dramatize this now,” said Bayern President Herbert Hainer in an interview with t-online reporter Julian Buhl, a few hours before the start of the game in Bochum. The truth is: Yes, that’s exactly what they should have done. Already weeks ago. The public inaction of Bayern’s leadership is one of the biggest problems of this currently struggling successful club. Is this still FC Bayern, the “Mia san Mia” record champions – or is it more of an image of the three monkeys: hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing?
A club management that is too timid, who, in an almost admirable way, knows how to transfigure every imbalance – from the transfer debacle in the summer to the current results crisis – into trifles and slip-ups? Uli Hoeneß would have exploded on the sausage machine in his own company long ago, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was otherwise so composed, would no longer be able to fit any of his stylish wristwatches on his wrist because of his pulse. How would the long-time club creators have been upset? They would have been beside themselves. They publicly reprimanded the team in a tried-and-tested manner, and their words shook up the club headquarters on Säbener Strasse like a thunderclap.
And not just now, not just after the 0-1 loss at Lazio Rome, but at the latest after the sobering 0-3 loss in the top Bundesliga game at Bayer Leverkusen. If not at the beginning of December, when the proud Bavarians once again let Eintracht Frankfurt show them off and lost 5-1. t-online columnist Stefan Effenberg also recently demanded a word of power from Bayern’s leading players, a signal to the team.
Everyone has to be put to the test
Plus a coach who over-coaches himself time and time again. After this next serious bankruptcy, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen demonstratively supported Thomas Tuchel during his time in Munich, which was by no means poor in serious bankruptcies. Tuchel, who is currently unlucky, still seems to be in serious trouble. He won’t be able to afford much anymore. Especially when the next opponent is Rasenballsport Leipzig.