Bayern Munich shot back to the top with a 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund. Everyone is happy with the record champions. Except for a Sky expert.
Good atmosphere on Bayern-Bank: Thomas Tuchel (right) with Sadio Mane Photo: Lukas Barth/reuters
In the end, Thomas Tuchel left the team to its own devices. After the final whistle, celebrating on the pitch with the fans. The new FC Bayern coach was only a silent observer, if he even took the time to watch the goings-on. Sure, he could have joined in, “but it wasn’t the moment to push me into the spotlight,” he said after the 4-2 win in the Bundesliga top game against Borussia Dortmund. Just as he felt during Saturday’s game, there’s no reason to dance for joy on the touchline for each of Munich’s four goals.
Tuchel showed a very keen sense of the situation. Since he started work just over a week ago, he has almost always been the center of attention, inevitably. Every workout, every statement, every gesture has been dissected and interpreted over the past few days. But what his team showed on the pitch against Dortmund had little to do with him. Sure, he made a few corrections, especially in the defensive structure, changed positions and thus provided a little more stability, at least at times. “He has a clear plan, clear ideas and got us really hot before the game,” said Leon Goretzka. It was also noticeable that Leroy Sané seemed more inspired than he had in a long time, but this does not necessarily have to do with the change of coach. In any case, much of the Munich game still bore the signature of Tuchel’s predecessor. “Julian Nagelsmann also has his share,” said Joshua Kimmich. “Not everything that came before has been deleted.”
Nobody is too euphoric, that’s quite good”
Neither what has worked well so far, nor what has always been lacking in the past few months. You could understand it as a “statement” that “you saw that if Bayern want to, they can,” said Thomas Müller, who scored twice. “But you’ve had that before.” Always when it came to these cherry-on-the-cream games, like the Champions League, for example. In everyday life, and that was the crux, there was a lack of consistency. In the 90 minutes against Dortmund, the Munich team presented their whole range to their new coach, the cherry and the fickleness.
After his debut game, Tuchel could have limited himself to all the positives, the clear victory over the rivals, retaking the top of the table, the phases in which the superiority of the squad, the higher quality was recognizable. But he’s probably a very good coach precisely because he doesn’t do that, at least not with players who know what they’re capable of. Rather, it is appropriate to explain what they need to do better. The beginning of the game, for example, when Bayern were “nervous and restless”, and the end when they conceded two more goals, “two mood dampeners”, as Tuchel put it, when they were no longer able to fully control the opponent . “There’s still work to be done.” Until Tuesday, until the cup game against SC Freiburg. “No one is too euphoric, that’s quite good,” says Tuchel.
The people of Munich believe that the sporting tasks are in good hands with him. Kimmich, who was one of Nagelmann’s confidants, praises the “positive energy” of the coaching staff. Müller revealed that the team “felt very comfortable with Thomas Tuchel in the first few days”. “But that’s a snapshot, you have to get to know each other even in difficult situations.” It all sounds pretty harmonious after the turbulent days.
Only one former player is causing discord at the moment. Lothar Matthäus accused the club on Sky of having “trampled the familial, protective self-image”, the mia-san-mia style of FC Bayern, and criticized Nagelsmann’s expulsion. On the sidelines, there was a heated argument between CEO Oliver Kahn and his former teammate on Saturday. There’s always a bit of Hollywood at FC Bayern.
