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Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel has garnered quite the reputation for — sometimes — being a little harsh on his players.
During his brief time at Bayern Munich, Tuchel’s squad has already felt those vibes — especially after the team’s 3-0 DFL-Supercup defeat at the hands of RB Leipzig.
Fans were not happy. The club executives were not happy. Most of all, Tuchel was not happy, as he put his squad on blast.
“It feels like a complete continuation to last season, but we were on a completely different path. The discrepancy between our performance today and the form and energy we’ve shown in the preseason friendlies and in training is enormous. This is simply far too little,” Tuchel said after the match (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We were puzzled. I don’t know why. It’s a mental thing. I have no idea. I have no solution right now. I’m dismayed and extremely disappointed. Our style of play wasn’t recognizable. I have no explanation at the moment. We’re conceding the easiest of goals. It’s like we haven’t done anything for four weeks. What we’ve shown today has nothing to do with how we trained, the form, the atmosphere. It’s alarming, just alarming.”
Tuchel’s blunt assessment of players or games can come across as refreshingly open to fans, but to players and ex-players, it can be viewed as crass and unnecessary. Tuchel later addressed the topic at his press conference ahead of this weekend’s match vs. Werder Bremen.
“After a 3-0 defeat, it almost doesn’t matter what I say. I was extremely unhappy. What I said was authentic. Maybe it wasn’t the most diplomatic way that night. But if I had done it diplomatically, people might have wondered if I was at another game. I take losing personally. I almost can’t stand it. Nobody has to be afraid (of me),” said Tuchel (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
It is hard to argue against anyone feeling that way after such a mess. Not everyone was a fan of how Tuchel spoke after the match, though, including Michael Rummenigge, brother of advisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
“I was quite surprised. He makes his job even more difficult with his repeated public display of helplessness. He shouldn’t be allowed to do this so often. Of course, one can say that so much honesty is authentic. Ultimately, it is Tuchel’s job to present the solutions that the record champion desperately needs,” said Rummenigge (as captured by Sport1).
Aside of some pundits and outsiders viewing Tuchel’s words with a raised eyebrow, his perceived tirade was not really all that bad. However, the coach has not achieved much success at all since taking over a locker room full of winners. His public griping might have been viewed negatively within the walls of the locker room or — maybe — the squad did not think about it at all? It is tough tell how it was received.
Regardless, the rumors of Tuchel grating on players or making them feel alienated appear to at least hold a little water. When combining all of that with two separate stories about Tuchel’s creating a rift over Joshua Kimmich’s position on the squad and also causing issues with his bosses behind the scenes, a familiar road could be in the process of being paved by the well-traveled manager.
The list of players who appear to lightly feuding with Tuchel or potentially isolated by the boss include some of team’s biggest presences: Thomas Muller (no clear role), Joshua Kimmich (gently tossing barbs through the media about playing the No. 6 position), Leon Goretzka (lost his starting job), and Kingsley Coman (potentially the third of three current wingers on the depth chart).
A real conspiracy theorist would say that Tuchel is trying to breakdown the team’s existing leadership structure. With Manuel Neuer’s future somewhat teetering (who really knows if he can come back healthy enough to be a world class goalkeeper?), some folks might begin to think Tuchel is attempting to displace that existing organization and replace it with his own leadership council.
It sounds extreme for sure, but could you totally rule out that scenario? Maybe...sort of...again, who knows?
Whatever the case, Tuchel wants to put his imprint on the team...and on the club. He cannot do that without players that he believes he can win with. How does he get them? Maybe he wants to exercise a little addition by subtraction, but — again — it is hard to say what is motivating some of the news and rumors that have dropped of late.
Today, we just have to assume everything Tuchel is doing on the pitch and behind the scenes is aimed to help the team win games right now.
Will Tuchel be able to keep the support of the locker room or will his tenure start to be marred by a divide between the players and coaching staff? That remains to be seen, but no one should expect the coach to change his ways. Tuchel is who he is and it does not look like he plans on altering how he operates (even if things did not always work out in his favor in the past).
Tuchel will continue to coach and act the only way he knows how — with pure intensity and passion. Whether that will end up being too much for this veteran squad to handle — or even tolerate — will be a key theme for fans to watch this season.
Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 3, Episode 6
Bayern Munich is set for its Bundesliga opener, but there are still many questions that are unanswered when it comes to the squad.
How much longer will Manuel Neuer be out of action? How will Thomas Tuchel settle on playing his center-back trio? Is Benjamin Pavard going to leave before the window ends? Is Thomas Müller going to spend the season picking up scrap minutes?
Yeah, there is a lot going on. Let’s not waste any more time and get right down to it. This is what we have on tap for this week’s episode of the Weekend Warm-up Podcast:
- Looking at the potential transfer situations of Pavard and Ryan Gravenberch.
- A look at what is going on with the goalkeeper situation and why Bayern Munich seems poised to ride it out with Sven Ulreich until Neuer is healthy.
- Exploring whether or not Müller has a role on this season’s squad.
- How hyped are you for Harry Kane?
Song of the Week: “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion
Released in 1990, “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion has not lost any of its appeal.
Towing the line between punk and the emerging genre of alternative rock, Social Distortion captures the mood and theme of the time in a fun and unique way. It’s a simple song in so many ways, but so, so good.
Enjoy:
Bavarian Podcast Works: Preview Show — Bayern Munich vs. Werder Bremen
Bayern Munich will square off with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga opener and as much as fans would like to believe that everything is rosy heading in the season’s first match, the Bavarians have a lot of questions attached to them.
Who will start? Is Thomas Müller ready to play? Can Sven Ulreich be a capable fill-in for Manuel Neuer? Which two center-backs will get the nod? Is Leon Goretzka ever getting off the bench? Does Thomas Tuchel have a plan?
Mostly, why is there all of this turmoil?
Those are just some of the questions heading in the match vs. Werder Bremen. Let’s take a look at what we will tackle for this season opening edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:
- A scan through those topics listed above.
- A guess at Tuchel’s starting XI.
- A prediction on the match.
Bundesliga Predictions
I predicted Bayern Munich would down RB Leipzig 3-0 last weekend...and I totally blew it!
Clearly, I am picking up exactly where I left off last season, but let’s try and get back on track this weekend. For as much as we all can point out Bayern Munich’s flaws at this point, the team is still far better than Werder Bremen...and that should count for something.
Prediction: Werder Bremen 0-3 Bayern Munich
Other Bundesliga predictions include:
- FC Augsburg 1-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
- Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 RB Leipzig
- Hoffenheim 1-2 SC Freiburg
- VfB Stuttgart 1-0 Vfl Bochum
- VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 Heidenheim
- Borussia Dortmund 3-1 FC Köln
- Union Berlin 2-1 Mainz 05
- Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 SV Darmstadt 98
Prediction Records
- Bundesliga Last Week: N/A
- Bundesliga Total: N/A
- DFB-Pokal Total: N/A
- Champions League Total: N/A
- DFL-Supercup: 0-1
- Total: 0-1
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