FC Bayern is in a crisis of results - and a crisis of results is always a real crisis at FC Bayern. The last time there was four Bundesliga games without a win was 20 years ago. It is spoken accordingly. Also about coach Julian Nagelsmann.
While FC Bayern has not shown any weaknesses in a strong Champions League group, there is a lot of sand in the gears of the German record champions in everyday life in the league. After three draws, there was a 1-0 defeat at FC Augsburg at the weekend. It's no wonder that critical voices about coach Julian Nagelsmann aren't getting quieter.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann was visibly affected by the fact that FC Bayern lost four Bundesliga games in a row for the first time in 20 years. "I think about everything. About me, about the situation, about everything," said the 35-year-old meaningfully at the press conference afterwards. One thing is clear: "A lot has to change."
No wonder, the headwind is increasing significantly, the tone of the club management is getting rougher. "We will get to the bottom of it all," said Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn to "Sport1" on Sunday. "We are not dealing with any other coaches now, we are totally convinced of Julian." The international break should now be used intensively "to go into analysis" and to "also critically deal with it".
The 2-0 win over FC Barcelona during the week with Robert Lewandowski, the guarantor of the title, was a brief mood lift. But captain Manuel Neuer had already warned of everyday tasks after the second win against a European top-class player after the opening success against Inter Milan: "We mustn't exaggerate now, we won every game in the Champions League. Against Inter and Barcelona we had space and place, as you can see from our second goal," said the goalkeeper on Amazon Prime. "But we have to do better against teams that are compact at the back. FC Augsburg are just such an opponent waiting for us." It wasn't even enough for a goal against Augsburg, also because Augsburg goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz defused a Neuer header with a brilliant act in added time.
Bayern boss Kahn gave the reasons in a flash analysis - with clear criticism of the team: "I think we're working out a wealth of opportunities and scoring far too few goals. We just don't manage to make the punch at the end. The opponent can always clarify, the last pass is always played too sloppily, and ultimately there is always a lack of the necessary concentration." Sport director Hasan Salihamidžić said there are now "no more excuses."
Salihamidžić had previously admitted to Nagelsmann that the 34-year-old was "just finding his style. He's never had a squad like that before." His coach, who was brought in from RB Leipzig last season for the reported record transfer fee of up to 25 million euros, is still in a "learning process". But learning processes traditionally have to lead to faster results at FC Bayern than in other training companies.
The past season was already extremely disappointing for FC Bayern's high standards: losing the second round of the DFB Cup, a quarter-final defeat against FC Villarreal in the Champions League that shocked the club and the German championship as the only title. Despite the first important title in Julian Nagelsmann's career, it was not a good year for FC Bayern. "Beating Villarreal in the quarter-finals does not reflect the expectations of FC Bayern and its fans," said former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the "Bild" newspaper at the time.
Meanwhile, the “kicker” reports that more and more critical voices can be heard about Nagelsmann from the team. The support is no longer "unconditional," they say. Management style and communication would be chalked up to the trainer, some reactions "sometimes rated as not very serious". The reaction to the repeated request that a "real nine" was missing finally exposed the thin nerves: "It doesn't matter what I answer," Nagelsmann bucked. "What does it matter if I say: No. And what does it matter if I say: Yes. We substituted the classic nine with Choupo-Moting today and we don't have another one. It doesn't really matter what I answer now . If I say no, then it says: 'He doesn't see the problem'. If I say yes, then everyone writes: 'He misses Lewandowski'."
