Bayern are in a mess of their own making, it could cost them the Bundesliga. Anyone who only occasionally watches the Bundesliga will presume they know what will happen to Bayern Munich next with four weeks left in the fight for the Meisterschale. However, there isn’t a widespread feeling among Bayern fans themselves that an 11th straight championship is now all but secured. Not at all. This season is far too erratic and erratic. In other words, it doesn’t sound particularly “Bayern-like” (an English-sounding phrase that has crept into German).
Take a look at the last few games, since right before Bayern’s management replaced Thomas Tuchel with Julian Nagelsmann. No fewer than five times, the lead at the top of the table has changed hands. Borussia Dortmund, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern, Dortmund, and then back to Bayern. It resembles musical chairs in football a little bit. On May 27, when the music stops, who will be in the winning seat? Despite having a one-point advantage, Bayern may still win the championship with just one draw from the Rekordmeister. That is not a reassuring situation given the drama Bayern has experienced both on and off the field.
Bayern are in a mess of their own making; it could cost them the Bundesliga
One may reasonably argue that Bayern’s match against RB Leipzig at home on May 20 is the most difficult of the two championship contenders’ remaining contests. Leipzig may be in dire need of the victory in order to achieve their minimal objective of getting into the Champions League for the upcoming season.
Considering how much of it was self-inflicted, it is debatable whether it was the appropriate move to fire Nagelsmann in late March. Put it down to panic and timing after Bayer Leverkusen outperformed Bayern just before the March international break, following a Dortmund thrashing of FC Cologne that propelled BVB into the top spot for the first time in three and a half years. The events of the next few hours happened quickly and in a stunning way. Nagelsmann’s decision to go skiing was unpopular, and it just so happened that highly respected Tuchel, a candidate Bayern had previously hesitated over, was available at the time
There seems to be no proof that Nagelsmann “lost the dressing room” as the higher-ups claimed. In fact, his ideas and demeanor matched well with Bayern and won over players like Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich. They were about to play their main opponents and had only dropped three Bundesliga games all season (to FC Augsburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Bayer Leverkusen). They were also still in the running for the Champions League and DFB-Pokal.
How did Bayern end up in such a dangerous situation?
Oliver Kahn, the CEO, and Hasan Salihamidzic, the sporting director, gambled in a way that was undoubtedly out of character for Bayern of old. But a chain of events that no one could have foreseen a few weeks ago were set in motion by Tuchel’s availability, the risk of being perceived as having missed out on him a second time, and their reservations about Nagelsmann There hasn’t been a new-manager bounce because Bayern is 3W-2D-3L under Tuchel. Even the 4-2 victory over Dortmund was primarily due to their opponents’ terrible performance. After that match, confidence began to wane as a result of a string of erratic performances and apparent declines in form from the majority of Bayern players, a shocking Pokal exit, two heartbreaking losses to Manchester City in the Champions League, and just one point from two Bundesliga games against TSG Hoffenheim and Mainz.
According to polls, most Bayern fans attribute the current issue at their club on Salihamidzic and Kahn in that order. Tuchel has thus far been cleared of blame. There were 11 closeups of the astonished pair throughout the six-minute recap of the 3-1 loss in Mainz on ZDF’s weekly TV program, das aktuelle Sportstudio, with them variously grimacing, screaming, or overall looking like they were about to erupt. After all, they were the ones to start this mess when calls for Nagelsmann’s dismissal were nonexistent.
A few months ago, Salihamidzic received high accolades for his great team-building efforts, with the acquisition of international superstar Sadio Mane being hailed as the cherry on top. Bayern now resembles a group of decent, even excellent, people who are however a part of an unbalanced mixture and flavor that lacks essential ingredients. Most people believed Bayern could flourish without a top-tier center-forward by concentrating instead on a fluid, versatile, and dynamic assault consisting of Mane, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, and Jamal Musiala when Robert Lewandowski left for Barcelona. This summer needs to be used to correct the mistake of not having a reliable finisher. While Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is a good backup and popular in the locker room, a team with the aspirations of Bayern requires a top-notch striker.