AS Monaco coach Niko Kovac implies squad planning issues aren’t new at Bayern Munich

Former Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac is having a terrific season at AS Monaco, where his team currently ranks third in the table.

While he is focused on his own squad’s success, Kovac has at least paid a little bit of attention to some of the news coming out regarding his former assistant, Hansi Flick, and his former colleague, Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidzic.

For anyone doubting who is calling the shots on squad planning and who makes the final decisions on player transfers, check out Kovac’s statements to Sport Bild (print edition), which were captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia:

Kovac followed up with a little more:

There was always chatter that Kovac was denied several player that he wanted to help run his system in Bavaria. Ultimately, Kovac’s requests were denied and he was forced to coach players that he could not make fit into a formation he was not comfortable with.

Clearly, that was never going to work — despite Kovac’s innovative ideas and strategies.

What is most disturbing about Kovac’s comments are that they seem to imply coaches are really being given any say in roster decisions.

Why does that matter? HAVE YOU READ THE BAYERN-RELATED NEWS LATELY?

Depending on what reports you believe, Flick and Salihamidzic have been at odds over squad planning and player transfers for more than a year. The alleged rift between the two men has been denied by mostly everyone in the Bayern Munich front office and dismissed as normal workplace behavior among people with differing ideas.

The big issue, however, is that the the DFB badly wants Flick to take over for Joachim Löw and Bayern Munich could be at serious risk of losing a tremendous manager.