vor the Bundesliga game against Eintracht Frankfurt, where FC Bayern gained confidence for Tuesday’s duel with Real Madrid in the Champions League (9 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker) wants to get, Thomas Tuchel burst his collar in front of the camera. The Munich coach defended himself on the Sky microphone against the statements made by Honorary President Uli Hoeneß the day before during a panel discussion with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“had made.
“That’s so far from reality, I don’t even know how to answer it,” Tuchel replied to the reporter, when asked about Hoeneß’ comments and added: “That’s so far from reality that I actually don’t would have reacted to it if it hadn’t come from Uli Hoeneß.” Especially since Bayern are challenged against Madrid on Tuesday. This gives the criticism “a little bit of a different flavor,” said Tuchel.
The Bayern coach then rejected criticism of his way of working. Hoeneß’ words would touch on his “deepest understanding” as a coach, said Tuchel, and listed examples of the names of young players at the time from his positions at FSV Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC and supported his coaching team.
“I am injured in my coaching honor. If we have proven anything over the last 15 years, it is that players from the academy always have a place with us if they perform well. I have little understanding of it. I find it absolutely baseless!” He doesn’t want to have a discussion with Hoeneß: “If I have to swallow it, then I’ll swallow it too. Swam over it. I’ve talked about it too much.” Tuchel will leave the German football record champions at the end of the season after less than a year and a half.
Hoeneß on Tuchel’s attitude
At the FAZ event, Hoeneß gave insights into his relationship with the outgoing Bayern coach and made allegations against Tuchel’s work: “We want to have a coach who improves the individual players. That is also the accusation. Personally, I have no problem at all with Thomas Tuchel. He came to dinner with us a few times, those were nice evenings, everything was okay,” said the honorary president.
“But: He has a different attitude. Not that you can improve Pavlovic, that you can improve Davies. But: If things don’t go any further, then we’ll buy! That can’t be the solution. I am convinced that we have to buy one or two good players, but we have to give the players we have self-confidence and work hard on them.”
Hoeneß recalled his time under coach Giovanni Trapattoni in Munich and indirectly criticized Tuchel’s approach. “I remember: we once had a world coach named Trapattoni. Every day after training he taught Sammy Kuffour – African – the simplest things: play passes, right, left, receive the ball with his chest and take it with him. I once asked him: Giovanni, why are you doing that? Then he said to me: I’m a football teacher. It’s very important to improve the players. And: that you hold them in your arms every now and then.”
Eberl gives insight into FC Bayern’s search for a coach
Most recently, Bayern were unable to reach an agreement with Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen) or with national coach Julian Nagelsmann. Ralf Rangnick is currently considered the most promising candidate for the coaching position.
Bayern Munich’s sports director Max Eberl was asked after the game against Frankfurt whether the 65-year-old Austrian national coach was coming. “We will see that after the game on Tuesday against Real Madrid,” replied Eberl: “It is the case that we have been very focused. The decisive factor is the real game. After that we’ll see what happens.”
Online petition is “not a priority” for Thomas Tuchel
Who will coach FC Bayern next season? This is still unclear. Current coach Thomas Tuchel has no nerve for an online petition from Bayern fans who want him to stay. The next eleven days “can’t be about anything other than football.”
Of course, Eberl also had to answer questions regarding the exchange of blows between Tuchel and Hoeneß. He exercised diplomatic restraint. Uli Hoeneß is “the honorary president who cares deeply about FC Bayern. I don’t think and hope that this has any influence. Two men said something. Two men who achieved great things in football. Uli here for the club, Thomas in his coaching career, in which he can definitely point to a lot. My job is to finish things and channel them: the anger, the energy to bring to the team and support Thomas – and to tell Uli that everything is going well and Tuesday can come.”
Hamann takes Uli Hoeneß to task
The experts were horrified by Hoeneß’ statements. Dietmar Hamann: “Perhaps Bayern should think about why no coach wants to go to Munich. It may also have something to do with the fact that such things are being told again and such interviews are being given. Tuchel said he would not approach Hoeneß. But the Honorable President must clarify or straighten this out. That can’t just stay in the room.”
This is not cooperation, Hammann continued, we have to treat each other sensibly. “Even if you have nothing to do with each other in day-to-day business, these are etiquette… I hope, for the sake of FC Bayern, that Uli Hoeneß will stand up, clarify and tell you how he meant it, what he meant. If that doesn’t happen, then I don’t know what will happen next in the club. That also influences Tuchel’s preparation for Real.”
Even record national player Lothar Matthäus did not understand Hoeneß’s statements; he even found them completely out of place so shortly before the Champions League duel with Real Madrid. “No one needs these headlines and Thomas Tuchel is rightly upset, to put it formally. I would be pissed off, something like that doesn’t work,” said the former Bayern professional on Sky.
Bayern’s striker Thomas Müller, meanwhile, cleared up the issue in his own unique way: “I quoted Oliver Kahn from a legendary interview earlier, somewhat rudely: ‘I don’t give a shit’.”