Bayern Munich sack coach Julian Nagelsmann

Bayern Munich will part ways with manager Julian Nagelsmann and are lining up Thomas Tuchel as his imminent replacement, Germany’s best-selling daily newspaper Photograph and its flagship football magazine kicker both reported on Thursday night.

Other media outlets, including in Bavaria, ran similar stories, all citing club sources.

However, kicker also asked Nagelsmann if he had heard anything about it from his employer, quoting him as saying, “No. Not yet.”

Bayern Munich itself had not commented publicly on Thursday either. Bayern player Joao Cancelo, coincidentally placed on the spot in a media interview that night, began his response by saying: “I didn’t know that. I’m a little surprised.”

kicker reported that the club were in contact with Thomas Tuchel – the former Paris St. Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea manager who is currently between jobs and living in Munich – and who Tuchel would likely sign a deal on Friday or Saturday.

The timing would be opportune for a change of coach, as most of the Bayern squad are away from home with their national teams on international assignments. The team is not playing this weekend.

Bayern’s next game isn’t until April 1, a crucial battle for the top of the table with Borussia Dortmund in the league.

Why is Nagelsmann under pressure?

Nagelsmann, 35, for years the brightest rising star on the German coaching scene, is presiding over Bayern’s least successful domestic league season for years.

The 2-1 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen last weekend helped Dortmund climb to the top of the table, with a point of advantage over Bayern, champions every year since the 2011/12 season. Before the winter World Cup break in Qatar, Bayern had a 9-point lead.

Although still in the Champions League, Manchester City, led by former Bayern manager Pep Guardiola, could prove a tough test for the Bavarians in the quarter-finals.

Reports of Nagelsmann struggling to maintain good relations with his star-studded cast have also been recurring for months. Arguably his most public falling out was with 2021 World Player of the Year Robert Lewandowski, who ended up leaving for Barcelona in the off-season with a likely discounted transfer fee.

The dismissal of goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic, an ally of veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, was another critical point.

His vocal criticism of the referees in a media interview after the loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach also sparked debate.

“Nagelsmann gradually lost players and with them, the entire dressing room,” he said. kicker reporter Georg Holzner wrote in a commentary.

The exceptionally young manager – injury cut short his playing career, giving him a bench advantage – was signed with much fanfare in July 2021 after overcoming at Hoffenheim and then RB Leipzig. He was supposed to usher in a new era and approach at Bayern. But his attempts to do so, often at the expense of his senior players’ egos or playing time, have also caused friction.

Tuchel ready for action, based in Munich

Bayern’s presumed replacement Thomas Tuchel is another key German coach who has been sidelined since the start of this season when London club Chelsea sacked him.

Tuchel, 49, is a former Dortmund coach and has been linked with Bayern in the past.

He has won two domestic league titles with Paris St Germain and the Champions League with Chelsea since leaving Germany to train abroad, but ultimately he has only survived just over two years in Paris and 18 months in London. before the teams’ form declined.

Tuchel has lived in Munich since returning from Chelsea, so he would be in a position to take over quickly.

Despite talk of a disappointing season, mostly with seven draws and three defeats so far in a domestic league that Bayern have grown accustomed to dominating, Germany’s most successful club are still looking to win the Bundesliga, the German Cup. and the Champions League in the final weeks of the season, with new leadership at the helm.

msh/ar (AFP, dpa, SID)