The whirlwind 24 hours for Bayern Munich came to an end on Friday as the club completed two crucial managerial deals. Julian Nagelsmann arrived at Sabner Strasse to get official communication on his departure, while Thomas Tuchel has been announced as the new head coach of the first team.
Tuchel has signed a 2.5-year deal with Bayern. He will be presented to the media on Saturday along with CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. The German coach will start working with the first team on Monday. Tuchel’s first game for Bayern will be against his former side Borussia Dortmund.
Along with Nagelsmann, Dino Toppmoller, Benjamin Gluck, and Xaver Zembrod have been released by Bayern. The German coach will reportedly be paid by Die Roten until he lands a new job. Both parties can also reach an agreement for compensation. It will be an expensive
The former RB Leipzig head coach was reportedly taken aback by the decision made by Bayern. In the club statement, Oliver Kahn insisted that they had to rethink a new approach after the slow start to the Bundesliga campaign in 2023. Kahn also insisted that the decision has been made on the back of performances over the last 18 months.
"“When we signed Julian Nagelsmann for FC Bayern in the summer of 2021, we were convinced that we would work with him on a long-term basis – and that was the goal of all of us right up to the end. Julian shares our aspiration to play successful and attractive football.”“But now we have come to the realization that the quality of our squad – despite winning the league last year – has shown less and less often. After the World Cup we played less and less successfully and attractively.”"
Meanwhile, Hasan Salihamidzic also insisted that it was a tough decision to part ways with Nagelsmann. However, they had to take this step to achieve the sporting goals of this season. Time will tell if sacking Nagelsmann at such a crucial juncture of the season was the right move for Die Roten.
Thomas Tuchel will receive a contract until 30th June 2025 and will supervise squad training for the first time on Monday. pic.twitter.com/kXZGxHPXdB
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) March 24, 2023
Thomas Tuchel will have to hit the ground running to make sure Bayern competes on all fronts. The Bavarian club is currently second in the Bundesliga, trailing arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund by a point. A win in next weekend’s Der Klassiker will set the tone for the remainder of the Bundesliga campaign.
In the Champions League, Bayern will face Manchester City in the quarter-finals. Thomas Tuchel enjoyed immediate success in the Champions League after taking over at Chelsea midway through the 2020/21 season. Bayern chiefs will hope to see a similar impact from Tuchel in Bavaria.
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Bayern will face Freiburg in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals at the start of April. It will raise further questions about the current board’s decision-making if Bayern fails to win all three trophies. They have made a change to save the sporting ambitions of the current campaign, so the pressure is on Tuchel and the players to deliver in the next couple of months.