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Things obviously aren’t great on the pitch, but apparently it’s even more chaotic inside the dressing room.
In a long report posted by Sport Bild, you get the sense that Bayern Munich have some dark clouds gathering over the horizon. While the title of the story promises a turnaround with Harry Kane at the helm, the text itself paints a picture of a disgruntled coach, discontent among the players, and no small amount of confusion at the executive level.
Thomas Tuchel will officially start his first full season as a Bayern Munich coach this Friday, with a game against Werder Bremen. After the disappointing end to last season and the crushing defeat in the Supercup, the coach is under pressure to deliver meaningful results. He hopes to achieve this thanks to the club’s new signing — English superstar striker Harry Kane — who Tuchel sees as the lynchpin that can fix all the team’s problems.
Unfortunately there are some bigger problems at play. The coach is frustrated because his team’s in-game performance doesn’t reflect their output in training. Before the Leipzig game, the team was in high spirits. The dressing room came together to sing “Happy Birthday” for Matthijs de Ligt before kickoff on Saturday. Yet, when it came time to play, all of the positives evaporated in an instant. Sport Bild alleges that there was no analysis after the game — the coaching staff feels that it is a problem with the players’ mentality. Compared to the treble team of 2020, this current one lacks confidence.
According to the report, Kane is expected to boost Bayern Munich by providing that missing confidence on the pitch. Tuchel is also counting on his goalscoring ability to convert chances that the 18-year-old Mathys Tel was unable to score in the game vs Leipzig.
This puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on Kane, who is expected to hit the ground running at Bayern Munich. With the 100 million euro price tag already hanging over his head, you have to hope the England international is ready for the rigors of carrying a team like Bayern Munich to glory.
The two team captains, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller, remain sidelined with various injuries. According to Sport Bild, the Neuer issue is becoming a point of contention at Bayern, with some voices behind the scenes arguing for the acquisition of a new #1 keeper. However, Tuchel also cannot risk alienating the team captain, which is the mistake that Julian Nagelsmann made.
This has led to an impasse, where Bayern are neither moving for a Neuer replacement, nor do they have an idea of when Neuer will be back. At the moment, Sven Ulreich is the club’s go-to keeper, which is a tough situation for the coach to handle. The question is — can he afford to rock the boat?
Meanwhile, with Muller, the situation seems less charged. Per Sport Bild, the acquisition of Kane has potentially strengthened Muller’s position, but it doesn’t say what plans the coach actually has for him. As the Muller vs Musiala debate is set to renew itself for a second season running, Tuchel will find himself forced to pick a side.
Thomas Tuchel and Joshua Kimmich clearly don’t see eye-to-eye. Tuchel’s calls for a new No. 6 have unsettled Kimmich, who apparently sees himself as a fit for the role. Their disagreement on this front is a matter of public record at this point, making it out of the dressing room and into the media for the world to see.
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The coaching staff is reportedly critical of Kimmich for making mistakes that shouldn’t happen to him. Tuchel, in a personal conversation, apparently told the player that he was responsible for slowing the whole team down. This does not help Kimmich’s self-confidence, especially at a time when he is struggling to find form.
If Tuchel doesn’t get the DM he wants, this fractured relationship could become a serious hindrance to both their futures at Bayern Munich, and the goals of the club itself.
Tuchel has his own issues to answer for as well. Apparently, he has to appear before a seven-person “Sports Committee” composed of the club’s highest ranking executives — including the likes of Jan-Chrisitian Dreesen, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Uli Hoeness — to explain his tactics and the inflammatory comments he made in the press conference following the Leipzig defeat.
The bosses, for their part, are baffled by Tuchel’s discontent. From their perspective, the transfers of Harry Kane, Kim Min-Jae, Konrad Laimer, and Raphael Guerreiro represent a significant backing to the coach — the Kane transfer was especially difficult and took a Herculean effort (and a LOT of money) to finally push through.
The bosses don’t like how Tuchel continues to grumble and exist in a perpetually sour mood after all that has been done. The coach will have to answer for his behavior this week.
Tuchel has his issues, but is it time to go #TuchelOut? Well … we talked about it in our latest podcast episode, along with a comprehensive breakdown of what went wrong during Bayern’s 3-0 loss to RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup. Listen to it below or on Spotify.
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