Heidenheim – The sixth defeat of this Bundesliga season was one of the sharpest and worst for FC Bayern. 2:3 after a 2:0 half-time lead against a newly promoted team. And yet these defeats no longer surprise the fans in 2024, the spiraling course of the champion – who may only be in office for a week – is too blatant, too blatant. And the shape is too disastrous.
Thomas Tuchel, the head coach in charge, who once again appeared helpless and remarkably powerless against his team, will also sit on the bench in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League at Arsenal on Tuesday; the bosses have guaranteed that in Heidenheim.
FC Bayern: Tuchel’s dismissal would give the stars an alibi
The paradox: The club fired its coach in February at the end of the season, hoping for a cleansing effect and a spirit of optimism. The opposite was and is the case. But an even earlier dismissal would take the focus away from the players and give them an alibi again – that is not the course and plan of Max Eberl, who took over as sports director on March 1st.
Eberl consciously directed his attention to the team, and in Heidenheim spoke angrily and plainly in the style – and certainly in the spirit – of his role model and mentor Uli Hoeneß: “There were eleven national players on the pitch. We are leading 2-1 – and are fluttering like that?” When asked about a possible change in the squad this Somme, Eberl replied briefly and succinctly, but at the same time crisply: “I believe that a lot of things need to be changed.”
Upheaval at FC Bayern – some stars are now threatened with unmasking
The current failure of many professionals improves the club’s negotiating position and thus that of Eberl. Whether it’s about possible talks about contract extensions (Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané) in which salary expectations can be reduced, or about tough decisions to part ways despite existing contracts (Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Dayot Upamecano). With performances like in Heidenheim, some players play into their bosses’ hands. And the coach is still there.
If the professionals show their Champions League face on Tuesday at Arsenal in the esteemed premier class and convince once again, it would be a success and an own goal at the same time – because it would be quite unmasking.