Oliver Kahn defends Niko Kovac’s debut season at Bayern Munich
The former Germany goalkeeper has nothing but praise for Niko Kovac after winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich have been subject to a much criticism due to their inconsistent performances on the pitch throughout the season. The German giants still managed to retain the Bundesliga title, but this triumph was not as dominant as their past six.
Niko Kovac has the chance to win his second successive DFB Pokal on Saturday. If Bayern win, the Croatian will have made a clean sweep of domestic trophies in his debut season in Munich. However, there are still doubts lingering over his stay at the club beyond this season.
Bayern Munich have denied reports suggesting the decision to sack Kovac has already been made. The club chiefs have been ambiguous, though, with their statements regarding the manager in the past few months. Speaking to Goal, Bayern legend and future executive Oliver Kahn defended Kovac and asserted that his first season in Bavaria has been a success considering the circumstances.
"“Kovac got into a very difficult situation. Some players like Robben and Ribery were already at a certain age. Then there was a catastrophic World Cup in Russia with the German preliminary round knockout, after which no national player had the desire for football.“There were also injuries and another coach. Such a situation is not easy to handle. The fact that Kovac has managed to become German champion and can also win the DFB Pokal, that is – if you can see the net result – anything but bad.”"
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Bayern’s performances were very poor in the first half of this season as Kovac continually chopped up his lineup for every game. Die Roten conceded a huge lead to Borussia Dortmund in the title race, and their hopes of retaining the Bundesliga title were fading quickly by November. There were murmurs in Germany that the players were unhappy with Kovac’s rotation policy.
The Croat eventually decided to stick with a fixed system and starting lineup by December, and the club gradually picked up results as their performances also slowly improved. They went on a long winning streak in the league and capitalized on Dortmund’s slump in form during February and March. Things were trending in a positive direction for Kovac as Bayern were on track in both domestic competitions.
The only massive setback for Bayern in this calendar year came against Liverpool in the Champions League. Kovac’s men gave a hapless performance at the Allianz Arena which eventually led to their exit from the European competition. The spotlight was back on Kovac due to his side’s negative performance, and speculation about his future has only increased in the final two months of the season.
Kahn’s explanation that Kovac was thrown into a difficult situation is completely justified, and Kovac definitely deserves one more season. The Croatian didn’t make major changes to the squad last summer, as the club instead decided to give its veteran players a good farewell season. His philosophy will be more evident next season with a few better players available at his disposal.
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On the other hand, Bayern are right to play the waiting game as there are not many top managers available at the moment. Die Roten have been dominant in Germany for a while, but they have struggled to stamp their authority in the Champions League in the last few seasons. The club chiefs will be hoping to make a final decision on Kovac next week before initiating their summer transfer plans.