Following Bayern Munich’s 1-0 Champions League loss against Lazio, Thomas Tuchel answered “no” when asked whether he was worried about his job as coach. The fact that such questions are being asked is an indication as to just how bad the current situation at the Rekordmeister has become. Successive defeats, struggling to keep pace with Leverkusen, rumours of player discontent and questionable tactics are all contributing to a mood of negativity and doubt as to whether the Bayern coach can survive in post.
The immediate reaction on social media after Bayern succumbed to a 1-0 first-leg defeat at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday was your typical knee-jerk ‘Tuchel must go’ stuff, with hardly any words of support for the under-pressure Bayern coach and plenty of words urging him to just go. Coming so soon after the abject display in Leverkusen last weeknd, the defeat in Rome was the last thing Tuchel needed and the calls for Bayern to admit they perhaps made a mistake in hiring him are growing. And herein lies the issue.
Sword of Damocles
There is a massive Sword of Damocles hanging over Tuchel’s head and there has been ever since his arrival in March last year. Bayern’s questionable decision to sack Julian Nagelsmann and replace him with Tuchel was based on the fear that the club’s chances of winning the treble were in danger. The fact that Tuchel then oversaw an exit from the DFB Pokal and the Champions League at the quarter-final stage and only just secured the Bundesliga title courtesy of a last-minute Jamal Musiala goal made the Bayern bosses initial fears over Nagelsmann look unfounded. Would they have done better sticking with Nagelsmann?
That is a question that just won’t go away and following every setback Bayern suffer under Tuchel, it rears up and casts a shadow over the club. The stats show that Tuchel actually has the lowest points per game figure of any Bayern trainer in recent seasons. His average figure of 2.12 points per game is below that of Hansi Flick (2.53), Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola, Julian Nagelsmann (2.31), Carlo Ancelotti and even Niko Kovac (2.26).
Nails in the coffin
It has long been seen that the current Bayern squad does need an overhaul and the acquisitions of Kim-Min Jae and Harry Kane in the summer were the start, but Thomas Tuchel does have a good enough squad to be doing better. Some of the comments made by the coach in recent days just highlights the problem. Tuchel has mentioned that there is a discord between what the players are showing in training and what they are producing on the pitch. Questions need to be asked as to why that is.
In his post-match comments in Rome he also highlighted issues. “I don’t know why, but we lost the plot at half-time. We lost the game, it wasn’t that Lazio won it. After the break, we actually wanted to be a bit more courageous. But the opposite was the case, we did everything we could to fall behind. We gave the ball away twice straight after the break and completely lost our rhythm. We found it difficult to create scoring opportunities and capitalise on them.”
The players do need to take some of the blame as they are the ones making the errors and not following through on the instructions, but again the question as to why raises its head again. The fact that Bayern had just one shot on target in the loss to Bayer Leverkusen was a shock and the first time in eight years that that had happened. Against Lazio, it got even worse with not a single effort on target across the 90+ minutes.
Both Bayer Leverkusen and Lazio have found a tactical plan to totally negate the Bayern threat and even though the Champions League tie still has the second-leg to play at the Allianz Arena, Bayern’s aura is no longer such that they will be be 100% favourites and even if they do progress, much sterner tests will await them (no offence to Lazio).
There is rumoured to be a group of about four key players, who have lost faith in Tuchel and once talk of ‘losing the dressing room’ starts, the expiry date of the coach is not usually long after. Again Tuchel has the ghosts of Julan Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick, Jupp Heynckes et al hanging over him as they were all coaches who seemed much more in touch with their players and in the cases of Flick and Heynckes were masters at garnering team spirit and togetherness. Tuchel is not that kind of coach, but Bayern knew that when they signed him.
The bizarre sacking of Nagelsmann forced their hand and Uli Hoeneß turned to the coach he wanted years previously and Bayern seemed to grab Tuchel before anyone else did. You reap what you sow in life and the current issues (while probably foreseeable) are just the fruit of Bayern’s own choices.
“We are all in the same boat. It’s not easy now, but we will get out of this together, that’s our big goal,” sporting director Christoph Freund said in the mixed zone at the Stadio Olimpico. “Of course he’s [Tuchel] also struggling with the situation because he wants to see the team differently on the pitch.”
Stick or twist?
The current view is that Bayern will stick with Tuchel, but they cannot get away from the accusations that they sacked Julian Nagelsmann for less. The current Bundestrainer suffered ten defeats in 84 matches in charge, whereas Tuchel has already suffered ten losses in just 43 games.
The sacking of Nagelsmann could have been seen as an easier choice with the fact that an alternative (Tuchel) was readily available, but that is not the case right now. There are names being thrown around with Jose Mourinho and Hansi Flick being mentioned, but the former comes with a lot of baggage and ego (something Bayern don’t need) and Hansi Flick, while the romantic choice, would be in danger of spoiling his great legacy.
One thing is clear though. Anything other than a big win and a convincing display on Sunday away at VfL Bochum is going to just see the pressure on Tuchel ramp up even more.
Be the first to comment