FC Bayern’s embarrassment at Bundesliga promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim (2:3) continues to have reverberations – also when it comes to the standing of coach Thomas Tuchel.
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Now Thomas Strunz has spoken out clearly against the 50-year-old staying there until the summer. In the show Image sports at World TV The former FCB star called for an immediate change of coach: “I think the decision to allow Tuchel to finish the season is wrong. I expected that after the embarrassment against Dortmund (0:2 last week, editor’s note) and something happened to Heidenheim.”
Strunz brought several candidates into play for a short-term successor until the end of the season, including two former Bayern trainers. “Hansi Flick is free, Niko Kovac (Dismissed from VfL Wolfsburg a few weeks ago, editor’s note) won the championship twice,” said Strunz – although Kovac only won the championship once with Bayern and was released the following year.
Ex-Bayern professional Thomas Strunz (r.) also brings Hansi Flick into the conversation as a possible interim successor for Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel
Strunz suggests Matthäus as Tuchel’s successor
That’s not all: “What about Lothar Matthäus?” Strunz asked, making a surprising reference to the German record player, who was also once his former teammate on Säbener Straße.
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Matthäus, now a TV expert, recently declared that he would definitely not be part of the coaching rotation that is currently underway in Germany and Europe in the summer.
What makes a quick decision on the bench all the more urgent for Strunz are “signs of dissolution within the team”. Criticism of this was primarily directed at Tuchel: “There doesn’t seem to be any hierarchy anymore. “Some players were shaved by Thomas Tuchel in the past,” said Strunz.
As an example of this, he cited Joshua Kimmich, about whom the Bayern coach said at the beginning of the season “that he was not a real six.” The hierarchies within the team were destroyed by Tuchel, added Strunz.
From summer: Roger Schmidt as a savior?
The ex-Bayern star once again suggested Roger Schmidt, currently under contract with Benfica Lisbon and tied to the Portuguese until 2026, as Bayern’s long-term coach starting in the summer.
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“You need an experienced coach who has worked with big players, knows the Champions League and speaks the language. I believe that language is an important issue in the period of change. If I put everything together, then I’m left with Roger Schmidt,” said Strunz about the former Bayer Leverkusen coach.
The former national player raved about the 57-year-old’s experience and mental strength: “He has worked successfully in different countries. He broke FC Porto’s dominance in Portugal. Roger has already experienced a lot and could do this job with a certain level of composure.”
In addition to Tuchel’s work, Strunz also criticized the decisions of the Bayern management: “The development did not just arise in the last two or three weeks, but began with the decision to dismiss Julian Nagelsmann. After that it more or less took on a life of its own. FC Bayern is more unstable in all areas than we have seen for a long time.”
Eberl continues to hold on to Tuchel
After the bankruptcy in Heidenheim, sports director Max Eberl emphasized that the club would stick with Tuchel as discussed: “It is completely clear to me that he will be next Tuesday (in the Champions League against Arsenal FC, note d. Red.) sitting on the bench and on Saturday against Cologne (in the Bundesliga, note Red.) sitting on the bench.”
Nevertheless, Strunz knows from his own professional experience that very short-term coaching changes are by no means out of the question at Bayern: On April 27, 1996, FCB coach Otto Rehhagel was fired immediately before the end of the season – the trigger was a defeat against Hansa Rostock .
And: With Franz Beckenbauer as interim coach, Strunz and Co. then won the then UEFA Cup.