Former Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes has finally spoken out about the troubles Niko Kovac is experiencing in Bavaria.
Bayern Munich are a complete shambles right now. They can’t seem to put together any semblance of form, and nobody wants to step up and take the blame. In truth, no one person is entirely to blame for the current situation, not even Niko Kovac. But it looks like the Croatian may be the first casualty in Bayern’s attempt to turn things around.
The Bavarians found themselves in a similar situation early last season, though to a much lesser extent. Then coach Carlo Ancelotti struggled to get positive results and lost the respect of his locker room.
The Italian was sacked in September and replaced by legendary manager Jupp Heynckes, who came out of retirement to help steady the Bayern ship. Jupp greatly turned the club’s season around, leading them to a sixth consecutive Bundesliga title.
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However, the worrying signs that plagued Die Roten early in the season began to rear their ugly heads once again in the final months of the campaign. Bayern’s season ultimately ended in disappointment when Bayern lost the DFB Pokal final to Niko Kovac’s Eintracht Frankfurt.
Despite the signs of promise Kovac showed in overcoming his future employers in the final game of the season, he has not been able to replicate such success in Munich. Today’s match against Benfica could, in fact, be his final one in charge of the Bavarian locker room.
His predecessor, Jupp Heynckes, has finally spoken out about the current situation at Bayern (via Westdeutsche Zeitung). Jupp sympathizes with Kovac, whom he recognizes “does not have it easy in Munich.”
"“There are good guys and there are divas in the team, and then there are serious injuries to important players. There’s a mountain of problems piling up.”"
Heynckes declined to add anything further regarding Bayern’s current crisis, instead preferring to talk briefly about his former club Borussia Monchengladbach and comment on how much he is enjoying retirement.
His brief comments on Bayern’s situation, though, are certainly concerning. Though what he said was a bit vague, Osram definitely seems to think the issues in Bavaria run much deeper than Kovac.
After all, even he struggled with this squad toward the end of last season, so why should anyone expect anything more from someone like Kovac? Perhaps more blame should go on the players for being “divas,” or maybe the board should take responsibility for throwing an inexperienced coach like Kovac into this squad and expecting him to come out unscathed?
Regardless, Kovac does seem to be approaching the end of his tenure at Bayern Munich. Whether or not he should shoulder the majority of the blame for Bayern’s crisis, he very well may be the first scapegoat.