This really is going to be one of the greatest collapses of all-time. In less than a month, Bayern Munich have gone from potential Treble winners to finishing the season without a single trophy as they’ve utterly collapsed under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
Well, I guess the Thomas Tuchel effect works in both directions.
Despite being alive in three competitions and on track for a historic Treble, Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn and Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidžić decided it’d be a great idea to fire manager Julian Nagelsmann and replace him with the 2021 Champions League winner Thomas Tuchel. What could go wrong?
Oh, well maybe that in the seven games Tuchel has been in charge, he’s won two games, drawn two games, and has lost another three as Bayern were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal Cup 2-1 by SC Freiburg, smashed out of the Champions League 4-1 by Manchester City, and then fell to 2nd in the Bundesliga as arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund have risen above them with 60 PTS.
Yeah, not great, but at least there’s enough games to overcome the 1-point deficit, right? Uh…actually, no, there’s only five games left in the Bundesliga season for Bayern to overcome that 1-point gap and retain the title, but that’s not the hard part.
The hard part is the strength of schedule as Bayern not only have to face off against 12th place Koln, 11th place Werder Bremen, and 5th place RB Leipzig after losing 3-1 to 7th place Mainz last weekend, but they also have to hope Dortmund drops points in any one of their matches against 15th place VFL Bochum, 8th place Wolfsburg, 10th place Borussia Monchengladbach, 13th place Augsburg, and/or Mainz.
Sure, it’s definitely plausible Bayern win out and Dortmund drop points, but Bayern have only picked up 7 points in their last five matches, while Dortmund have earned 10 points in their last five games. The math is definitely not in Bayern’s favor on this one, and even more so considering how toxic that locker room has become.
In the last few months, there has been accusations of a locker room “snitch” and “mole” by former boss Julian Nagelsmann, the long-time goalkeeping coach (who was best friends with Manuel Neuer) was abruptly fired, the old guard (Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Robert Lewandoski) has been unceremoniously phased out, the half the locker room reportedly fell out with Nagelsmann, Nagelsmann himself was abruptly fired, Dumb and Dumber at the top (aka: Kahn and Salihamidžić) have been erratic with their decision making, and then Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane got into an actual fight after the 3-0 City defeat.
Oh, and legendary goal scorer Robert Lewandoski was humiliated and kicked out of the club in the summer as Dumb and Dumber wanted someone younger to lead the line, even though Lewandoski has scored 26 goals and 7 assists for Barcelona this season as they close in on their first La Liga title in four years.
As you can see, this Bayern Munich side that has won 4 league titles, 2 DFB-Pokal cups, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the 2020 Champions League in the last four years is literally falling apart before our very eyes, and it’s the fault of two men: Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić.
These two buffoons tried to dramatically overhaul the very makeup of an extremely efficient (albeit aging) Bayern side that needed a gradual, slow change from the old faces to the younger ones.
Selling Lewandoski, the best goal scorer in Germany (and one of the Top-3 in the world), keeping Muller on the bench, and firing Manuel Neuer’s goalkeeping coach soured the old guard on the chiefs, while leaving not adding any serious depth to the front line has ruined the seasons of the young wingers and midfielders. It’s just a masterclass in how not to run one of the world’s best football clubs.
And I hope, for the sake of all Munich fans, it costs Kahn and Salihamidžić their jobs as this season has been an unmitigated disaster for Munich, even if they manage to win the league title.
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