‘Nagelsmann fired at Bayern Munich, Tuchel becomes successor’
NOS Soccer–
Julian Nagelsmann has been fired from Bayern Munich, German BILD and Kicker report. Remarkable, since the still only 35-year-old coach was still in the race for three prizes with der Rekordmeister. Bayern did lose the lead in the Bundesliga last Sunday to Borussia Dortmund after a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.
Sporting director of the club, Hasan Salihamidžić, was already particularly critical after that defeat: “This is not what Bayern stands for. So little drive, mentality, assertiveness: I have rarely experienced that.”
Head coach before his 30th
Nagelsmann was in his second season at Bayern. Last year he took the title, the tenth in a row for Bayern in the Bundesliga. In the Champions League, the team lost disappointingly in the quarter-finals to Spain’s Villarreal, and in the German Cup they lost by as much as 5-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the second round.
Just two weeks ago this season in the Champions League, the star-studded Paris Saint-Germain were defeated, reaching the quarter-finals again. Opponent in the last eight is Manchester City. Also in the German Cup, Bayern is in the quarter-finals.
Still, Bayern’s management was not satisfied with the coach of Matthijs de Ligt, Ryan Gravenberch, Daley Blind and Noussair Mazraoui. Only half of the last 10 games in the Bundesliga were won.
“He won’t get away with just winning the championship again. More is demanded at Bayern, with the Champions League as the focal point. The goal there is at least reaching the semifinals, otherwise it may well be end of the road for him.”
With the 11th consecutive national title in jeopardy and winning the Champions League not becoming an abc’t, Bayern cut ties with Nagelsmann during the international period.
In 2019 he made the switch from Hoffenheim to RB Leipzig, two seasons later he was promoted again, to Bayern. This did not go without a fight. Bayern paid Leipzig a whopping 25 million euros to take over their head coach and gave Nagelsmann a five-year contract.
Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel will in all likelihood succeed Nagelsmann. He was fired from Chelsea earlier this season and was previously at the helm of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern’s next opponent on April 1.
Not long after that, the important duels with SC Freiburg (German Cup) and Manchester City (Champions League) will follow. Bayern, which wanted to bring Tuchel to Munich back in 2018, did bite now, at Nagelsmann’s expense.
