Why is the record champion still holding on to Tuchel?

After two defeats in a row, the pressure on Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel is increasing. The club bosses are still sticking with him. But why actually?

Julian Buhl reports from Rome

The night in the “eternal city” was a short one for FC Bayern’s traveling entourage after the sobering 1-0 defeat at outsiders Lazio Rome. At least the table at which the club bosses sat together with head coach Thomas Tuchel at the banquet in the posh team hotel “Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria” was still occupied until well after midnight.

At 11 a.m. the special plane took off again for Munich. It can be assumed that those responsible also used the appropriately almost ninety-minute flight to continue to intensively discuss the tense situation at the record champions and to look for solutions

The question of coaching has been at the center of this, at least since the downfall experienced in Rome. Head coach Thomas Tuchel had to answer this question both in an interview with Italian television and at the subsequent press conference. He was asked whether he feared for his job. His answer was always the same: “No. No.” Questions about why he still believed he was the right coach for Bayern were unwelcome. “You asked a question and I answered no. I would like to talk about the game,” he said. And that’s it!

But do those responsible still share Tuchel’s assessment of his job security after the devastating impressions they received at the Stadio Olimpico just four days after the 3-0 debacle in Leverkusen? According to t-online information, yes. But why are the bosses still holding on to Tuchel?

In any case, so far there is nothing to indicate that Tuchel will be fired in the near future, which is not to be expected in the short term. Not yet. As Bild and Sky also report, the 50-year-old will definitely be in the dugout for the away game in Bochum on Sunday.

Bayern’s bosses and the head coach continue to talk to each other and not about each other – at least not just. There is an intensive exchange about how we can solve the precarious and undoubtedly tense situation together. However, the situation will have to be reassessed after the season at the latest. A rethink anyway, because the firm plan was actually for Tuchel to fulfill his contract until 2025.

The fact that there were no hasty, short-term reactions after the next humiliation in the Italian capital also has to do with the fact that the first leg with Lazio Rome is seen by Bayern as what it actually is: and only the first part the two round of 16 duels in the Champions League.

Payment will only be made after the second leg on March 5th. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen also referred to this in his banquet speech. Vice-captain Thomas Müller also remained “consciously self-confident”, as he emphasized: “It’s half time. Sure, we have problems. Nevertheless, things can happen very quickly in football. We now have three weeks to fight for the quarter-final ticket.” The actual final awaits Tuchel and Bayern only then.

However, Tuchel hasn’t exactly caught the attention of the record champions as a specialist in knockout games. On the contrary: out of a total of six games he was only able to win one, in the first round of the DFB Cup against Preußen Münster. (You can read more about Tuchel’s record in knockout games here.) A catastrophic statistic that he has to improve on in the home game against Lazio.

Otherwise, after the cup defeat at third division team Saarbrücken (1:2) in the premier class, the next chance for the title would be lost. After the defeat in the direct duel with Leverkusen and now five points behind, the championship can no longer be achieved on our own. For the first time since the 2011/12 season, the record champions are now facing the worst-case scenario: a completely titleless season.