In a surprising turn of events, Bayern Munich decided to sack Julian Nagelsmann and appoint former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel.
Some of the reasons pondered as to why was Bayern Munich’s “poor” run in the league where they sit one point behind Dortmund.
In the press conference introducing Tuchel both sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić and CEO Oliver Khan gave an explanation as to why they decided to fire Nagelsmann.
“In March of last year we had these inconsistent performances, then again in September and most recently we only won five out of 10 Bundesliga games,” Salihamidžić said. “When the performance curve is pointing downwards, you have to react. It wasn’t an easy decision.”
Khan echoed similar sentiments.
“We have one of the best squads in Europe. But the continuity was not getting any better,” Khan said. “We can’t be satisfied with performance and results this year. If you look at everything, we’ve only won five out of 10 games in the Bundesliga – that’s not our ambition.”
Bayern Munich have been inconsistent in the Bundesliga but it still comes as a shock they sacked Nagelsmann given they were only one point adrift and with an opportunity to reclaim their lead when they take on Dortmund following the international break.
Furthermore, they’re having an excellent season in Europe. They went undefeated in the group phase of the Champions League — a group which included Barcelona and Inter Milan. They took down, rather comfortably, PSG in the round of 16.
Though their surprising elimination in the quarterfinals against Villarreal undoubtedly became a point of contention
However, it is true the relationship between Nagelsmann and the squad wasn’t the best. The prime example being his feud with Manuel Neuer and the goalkeeping coach, who was ultimately fired.
Given what Bayern Munich paid to get Nagelsmann in the first place, his hiring has to go down as one of their worst missteps in recent history. Bayern have prided themselves in being one of the best run clubs in Europe.
Their hope now is Tuchel will come in and have a similar effect to the one he had at Chelsea. He joined them after being sacked at PSG before things went sour. With their resources, the chances of success are rather high both domestically and in Europe.