Bayern Munich: Rafinha opens up on difficult time under Niko Kovac

The former Bayern Munich defender opens up on his frustrating final season at the club.

Bayern Munich made some tough decisions this summer by bidding farewell to numerous senior players. The Bundesliga champions have decided to build a new spine of the team by signing some of the most exciting young players across the globe.

Rafinha was one of these veteran players that ended their Bayern career this summer. After enjoying a fruitful seven seasons in Bavaria, the Brazilian full-back was released by the Bundesliga club. He eventually sealed a move back to Brazil in order to play for Flamengo.

It was a frustrating final season for Rafinha as he struggled to get regular gametime under Niko Kovac. Earlier this year, the Brazilian publicly expressed his frustration, but Kovac stuck with his first choice eleven in the last six months. Speaking to SportsBild (via Bulinews), Rafinha criticized Kovac for not giving him fair chances last season, despite convincing him to stay at the club last summer.

"“I never really said anything about a coach’s decisions. It happened once last season because a limit was reached. Unfortunately, it didn’t work with Kovac.”“I wish Niko Kovac all the best. He’s a young coach. But it just didn’t work between him and me. Maybe he didn’t trust me. There was a period when I got to play more games. After that, the coach just didn’t use me anymore, and I couldn’t understand why.”"

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Kovac was firmly in favor of frequent rotation to keep all the players on their toes. In his initial couple of months at the club, he kept on changing the lineup every game. This approach was welcomed by some players while the others were reportedly unhappy with this policy. The results were positive at the start but the performances were eventually regressing as there was very less continuity in the team selection.

The Croatian was under immense pressure as Bayern went four games without a win at the end of the September. Die Roten fell behind Dortmund in the Bundesliga after consistently dropping points in the league till December. The Croatian manager eventually decided to stick with a fix system and lineup for the rest of the season.

The results improved and it eventually decreased the playing time of the squad players like Rafinha. He eventually ended the campaign with 26 appearances but most of these were as a substitute. On the other hand, he got a chance to end his time at the club on a positive note as Bayern clinched the domestic double.

There will be more departures from the current squad. Renato Sanches and Jerome Boateng might not have future in Bavaria due to the lack of playing time under Kovac. The Croatian will have to find the right approach while rotating the team in order to maintain healthy competition in the squad.