Bundesliga
FC Bayern is at a turning point
Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic (l) and Munich CEO Oliver Kahn are under enormous pressure. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
The clock is ticking. In the championship fight she ticks for Borussia Dortmund. And at FC Bayern against Oliver Kahn? Or Hasan Salihamidzic? Everyone in Munich is waiting spellbound for the postponed day X.
Are grace periods already running in Munich? For Oliver Kahn? For Hasan Salihamdzic? Or for expensive football stars who don’t deliver titles?
Originally, the supervisory board of FC Bayern, headed by honorary president and spokesman Uli Hoeneß, should have met at the beginning of the week. Then a decision about the future personal orientation of the German record champions and the future of CEO Kahn and sports director Salihamidzic might already have been made. And the financial framework for the expected purchasing program would have been decided this summer. New managers and a top center forward are needed.
Weeks ago, the club had postponed day X to May 30 to pool all their strengths in the championship fight with Borussia Dortmund. One thing is certain in advance: Even if BVB were to pass the championship trophy on to Bayern again in the heart-stopping Bundesliga final, it would not go back to business as usual on Säbener Strasse.
Kahn and Salihamidzic under pressure
While Kahn, who never gave up, clung to the last title straw after the disturbing 1: 3 against RB Leipzig (“It will be over when the referee has whistled off our game in Cologne”), his board colleague Salihamidzic said the probably inevitable ever publicly: “Now we’ll see if we might have a season where we don’t win any titles.”
Kahn (53) and Salihamidzic (46), the joint Champions League winners in 2001, wanted to shape a new Bayern era as bosses after the legends Hoeneß (71) and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (67). They are currently in failure. Her former teammate Thomas Helmer nevertheless asked for leniency on Bavarian television with the explicit reference to the “huge footsteps” of her predecessors: “It’s not possible to grab it right away. That’s why I’m not an advocate of saying Olli and Hasan have to go now , because they may not have done their best work this year.”
What roles do Hoeneß and Rummenigge play?
The work of the board of directors will have to be evaluated by the eight-member supervisory board chaired by President Herbert Hainer. The committee, which is made up of a number of business experts, will look to Hoeneß – and will certainly listen to the patron saint of Tegernsee. There is a lot of speculation right now, right up to a transitional comeback by Hoeneß and Rummenigge, in whatever form. The newspaper group “Münchner Merkur/tz” brought in CFO Jan-Christian Dreesen, who is actually about to leave, as Kahn’s successor. However, the 55-year-old business graduate is also being traded as the new managing director of the German Football League. Dreesen has been a member of the DFL Executive Committee since 2016.
Most personnel debates focus on Kahn. But Salihamidzic is now also being questioned more. At Bayern games, they sit next to each other in the stands. Together they are also responsible for the clumsy change of coach from Julian Nagelsmann to Thomas Tuchel, which did not lead to the triple title, but to three lost titles. Are Olli and Brazzo still fighting together? Or is it everyone for themselves?
Kahn’s line of reasoning goes like this. As CEO, he sees himself mainly responsible for the major guidelines in the football group with over 1000 employees. After the Leipzig game, it was noticeable how much he blamed the team. “We didn’t do it intelligently,” said the former goalkeeper titan about the desolate second half. Kahn missed a revolt, missed the Bayern DNA on the pitch. “It’s happened one or two times during the season where you have the feeling that everything collapses when a goal is conceded or the situation becomes difficult when resistance arises.”
Salihamidzic is still behind the team
Salihamidzic is primarily responsible for the composition of the squad. And he said after the defeat: “They’re all good guys. I always stand behind the team.” He himself has been under Hoeneß’ protective umbrella for years. Salihamidzic has not adequately replaced lost managers such as Thiago, David Alaba or Robert Lewandowski. He cannot be blamed for the fact that captain Manuel Neuer broke his leg on a ski tour in winter.
Salihamidzic is combative. He has already announced a busy summer: “We will sit down after the season and see what needs to be done on the transfer market. There are definitely a few issues.”
Who will tackle this? After the last season without a title, Hoeneß and Rummenigge, who followed the Leipzig disaster side by side in the VIP stand, acted consistently in the summer of 2012. Matthias Sammer came on board as sporting director, and the Spaniard Javier Martínez was signed at the request of coach Jupp Heynckes for the then record transfer fee of 40 million euros. New staff must also come now. Only Coach Tuchel is not up for grabs, despite a start-up phase that wasn’t anywhere near Bayern-like.
A turning point is imminent
A Munich turning point is still pending. Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of Bayern’s triumph in the German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. It was the year of Bayern’s first treble. Two days later, Bayern should be dethroned nationally by BVB on Saturday after ten championship years in a row.
“I don’t think Dortmund can take that anymore,” said Helmer, who also wore the BVB jersey in his career. Looking at FC Bayern, the 58-year-old remarked: “Sometimes it’s good when you have a season like this. I think it can be very good for FC Bayern because now they have to do something real again. “