After the Champions League exit
Problems at FC Bayern: Rummenigge teases Nagelsmann and Salihamidzic in interviews
“The elimination is not due to the quality of the squad,” says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
© Sven Hoppe / DPA
The end of the Champions League hit Bayern hard. The ex-chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now hit the table in two interviews with messages to coach Nagelsmann and the new bosses.
FC Bayern is now clinging to the championship title. The record champions will probably extend their title record and celebrate their tenth championship in a row at the end of the season. In the other competitions, however, they are out. The end of the second round of the DFB Cup against Borussia Mönchengladbach was a nuisance, but manageable. The cup has the lowest status compared to the championship or the Champions League title, and if you’ve won it twenty times like Bayern, okay, then you can do without it for a season.
The Champions League elimination in the quarter-finals against outsiders FC Villarreal, on the other hand, was a tougher number because it affected the club’s self-image. The demands are such that it has to be at least the semifinals, below that you don’t do it with Munich. And losing to a small club that was considered underdogs makes it all the worse.
Something is going on at Bayern
But no matter how you twist and turn it, whether you downplay the end in the premier class or declare it a total catastrophe: Something is happening at Bayern. Coach Julian Nagelsmann, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic and CEO Oliver Kahn are facing their first real test.
An unmistakable sign of this is that the ex-CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has spoken out in detail in two interviews, namely in the central media organs of German football, the “Bild” newspaper and the “kicker”. One can safely understand the statements to mean that the still influential Rummenigge is seriously concerned that FC Bayern could possibly lose touch with the European leaders. His statements are unequivocally aimed at the new bosses, and also at coach Nagelsmann – as a warning and as criticism.
Rummenigge describes the decisive moment of the season in the stadium when the late goal was conceded and the end was sealed. Rummenigge sent out two tips against the 34-year-old Nagelsmann, who only came in the summer. On the one hand, the departure is “not due to the quality of the squad.” And the fact that the great form of the first half of the season was lost “also has to do with the fact that a different tactic is sometimes preferred. Since Louis van Gaal was played in a 4-2-3-1, today you can often see the defensive back three. Whether From the distance I’ve acquired, I can’t say exactly how comfortable the team is.”
Closed season for Nagelsmann is over
Now Nagelsmann can be sure of his job at Bayern, but Rummenigge’s words of course ensure that the public rest period for him is over. When Rummenigge was still responsible, such statements were an alarm signal. Just remember how he once disbelieved Niko Kovac and damaged him so badly.
A second criticism of Rummenigge is the public unrest because of the many contract talks, some of which have already been completed. Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman have had their contracts extended. No decisions have yet been made for Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry, all of whom have terms until 2023. Here, too, Rummenigge has a clear opinion. “What is striking, of course, is that there is constant contract discussions in the media. (…) We’re now in the last quarter of the season, so that’s not conducive, it causes unrest in the club. And you can feel it,” said Rummenigge. So things aren’t going well there either.
Nevertheless, he wished the new leadership “a lucky hand in any case” and recalled the crises of the past. “We also had heavy defeats, in 1999 or 2012, which gave us sleepless nights. But Bayern have always been known for solving problems, overcoming challenges and, in the end, rising like a phoenix from the ashes.”
Before Bayern become a phoenix, they have to survive restless weeks and, above all, settle the contract issue with the big three (Lewandowski, Müller, Neuer). And the squad needs fresh blood. In addition to the definite departure of Niklas Süle, there will be others. In addition to Süle, the former record signing Corentin Tolisso is also likely to leave the club at the end of the season. That could also apply to reservists like Bouna Sarr, Marc Roca or Omar Richards – if there are any offers for them.
Sources: “table football“, “picture” (paid content)