And now? Is the emergency here? An emergency that Thomas Tuchel has been warning about for several weeks and months. Here and there, the FC Bayern football coach has received a reprimand from his bosses when he has mentioned again that he is missing two players from the squad. He shouldn’t complain so much, it was said here and there after this botched transfer finale, for which Tuchel was promised a right-back and a defensive midfielder – but he didn’t get any of them.
Tuchel then predicted that it would be very tight in terms of personnel; This squad is “sewn on edge”. This will become apparent at the latest in the English weeks in the Bundesliga, when the stress will be higher and the risk for the players of suffering an injury will be greater.
Now it happened earlier, right after the international break, when midfielder Joshua Kimmich returned from it slightly injured. Nothing dramatic, but Kimmich is suffering from muscular problems that forced him to watch the second international match against France. “Jo is questionable,” confirmed Tuchel for the Bundesliga summit meeting with league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have not lost any points (Friday, 8.30 p.m.) – and was already right in the middle of the squad situation again.
De Light on the six? “It wasn’t a test,” says Tuchel
Tuchel no longer has to use critical words; the shortcomings are clearly visible. The numbers game goes like this: If Kimmich fails, as it looked like on Thursday, Tuchel only has two defensively oriented midfielders available: Leon Goretzka and Konrad Laimer. The latter played as a right-back in the last Bundesliga game in Gladbach, quite well off the side, so Tuchel would have liked to continue to plan him in that position – which is no longer possible. He has to place Laimer in the center and Noussair Mazraoui, the only right-back in the squad, at the right back; It’s no secret that Tuchel gives the Moroccan a little less trust than Laimer in this position, especially over the 90-minute period.
So things could be unusually wild in the coming Bayern weeks – with seven games in 19 days in three competitions – with one or two lineups that look as if someone made a typo on the computer. Like against Gladbach, when Tuchel suddenly pressed central defender Matthijs de Ligt into the role of a six in the final phase in order to counter the Gladbachers, who were pushing for an equalizer, with more force in the center.
What, an experiment? Tuchel doesn’t see it that way. “That wasn’t a test, we needed him in midfield,” said Tuchel, already looking ahead: “We’ll need everyone in the future, perhaps in unusual positions. We’ll have to get used to that.”
Nagelsmann as national coach? “Of course he can,” says Tuchel
And that against an opponent on Friday evening that Tuchel rates highly. Leverkusen is “very strong,” explained Tuchel: “Very good team, very good coach. Very stable and very homogeneous.” He “learned a lot about football” from Xabi Alonso, the former Bayern professional and current Leverkusen coach, said Tuchel. And not in conversation, but “by watching Xabi Alonso play.” A special task will probably be to limit the impact of striker Victor Boniface. Tuchel said he had made an “impressive start”: “It is now up to us to press the pause button.”
Tuchel had to say a few words about another coaching colleague on Friday: Julian Nagelsmann, his predecessor at FC Bayern. Not of his own free will, but Tuchel was asked whether he trusted Nagelsmann to take on the job as national coach. “Of course, of course,” said Tuchel, taking a sip of water: “Of course he can do that.” Nagelsmann is an “outstanding trainer, it won’t fail because of the professional quality and the know-how and the skills.”
And then he found that he had already said enough about the national coach issue. Sure, the association is currently going through “wild times”, but that is a different construction site. DFB sports director Rudi Völler hasn’t commented on FC Bayern recently either: “I’m very grateful to him for that,” said Tuchel: “That’s why he’ll be just as grateful to me if I don’t comment on the DFB now.”