BFW Mailbag: Will Jose Mourinho replace Niko Kovac? Miroslav Klose’s coaching future. Is Bayern ready for Der Klassiker?

I’ve been looking into ways for me to contribute more around here at Bavarian Football Works. As I’m sure all of you have noticed, you just aren’t getting my expert/terrible analysis of Bayern Munich play this season. When I am around to pitch in, I’m usually jumping on live blogs for Bundesliga matches. So, I’ve spoken with the big boss of BFW, and he thought my idea to start a mailbag of sorts was a “great” idea. True story.

So, with that said, today’s mailbag comes to you thanks to some of our followers on Twitter. Let’s get to it!

The first question comes from Rodrigo Olivares from Twitter. Rodrigo hopes the board sacks Kovac and brings in new players. When pressed for a coach, Rodrigo suggests José Mourinho.

There remains a wide circle of Bayern fans that believe Niko Kovac deserves to be fired, and it’s hard to believe that anything will change their opinion at this point. Depending on your perception of the sport in 2019, you can very well make it a valid argument.

Personally, I think it’s going to take a remarkable explosion of the team in the remainder of the season for the board to sack Kovac before he at least gets to start his second season. There are two main factors behind this belief.

The first is that the board finally recognizes what many of us have been talking about for the last few seasons: the squad just isn’t good enough to compete at the level Bayern fans want/€expect. Coming into the season, we were all well aware that Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery were on their last legs, but little did we know that both Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng were rapidly approaching the end as well. (I won’t even bring up Manuel Neuer’s up-and-down season here, but ... you know.)

The board is finally taking action with the signings of Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez. With over €115 million spent on the two World Cup champions, it would seem that Bayern have addressed most of their defensive issues except a replacement for Rafinha. However, the club will also need to drop a lot more Euros to bring in some offensive talent this summer, if they want to get back to competing for the Champions League.

The second reason is that Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made a big decision in hiring Kovac ahead of a more experienced coach. While they, of course, could change their mind at any second as we’ve seen in the past, I think the brain trust are going to give Kovac every opportunity to succeed as their final Bayern legacy before the two depart the club and head off into retirement over the next few years.

As for Rodrigo’s Mourinho pick... Please no. I really do not want to see Mourinho coaching Bayern. At all. Don’t let this happen. Fight.

Building upon the coaching discussion, A. Bravo followed up wondering whether Miroslav Klose might the Bayern coaching gig after he spends a few years coaching the club’s youth teams.

If you forgot, Klose signed a contract last spring to lead the Bayern U-17 team through the summer of 2020. Before taking the gig, Klose was an assistant coach under Jogi Löw for the German national team. So, while he’s coaching kids at the moment, he has some experience with coaching full professionals.

It’s going to be interesting to see what Klose does with his career next summer. Now that he has some more experience under his belt, he surely would be able to find a Bundesliga club or two ready to take a chance on him on name recognition alone.

As for whether that means he’s ready to take the premier job in Germany and one of the biggest in the entire world? I’m just not sure about that. A little more seasoning coaching professionals and Bayern could make the move.

Now? It’s too early.

The final venture in our return to the mailbag is this from Eric Probst. What does Bayern’s bonkers performance against Heidenheim mean for Der Klassiker this weekend against Borussia Dortmund?

I think it’s really difficult to try and pre-judge just how Bayern’s going to play this weekend against Dortmund. While momentum is a real thing (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), we have to remember that cup competitions always have the potential to throw a massive wrinkle into all of your plans, especially when you’re a club like Bayern playing a lower-division club. Throw in a dumb red card from a center-back in the opening ten minutes, and you’re in for a wild adventure.

There are areas of concern for Bayern heading into Der Klassiker. It appeared that Manuel Neuer was getting back into the groove of things before his most recent injury, and despite how long he’s been the backup at Bayern now, Sven Ulreich is no Manuel Neuer. The confidence of his defenders will never be there the way it is with Neuer. If Neuer is out, it should concern Bayern fans.

Then, there is the other goal problem. Can Bayern put the ball in the back of the net? Robert Lewandowski has scored in bunches this season, but he still faces the criticism of “not able to score in big games.” If Lewandowski and Thomas Müller can get some quality service up top in this game, they will score. It’s just a matter of if they can score enough.