Oliver Kahn: Bayern Munich has not made kneejerk decisions
Bayern Munich has dominated the news during the international break for the wrong reasons. After consistently insisting that Julian Nagelsmann was part of the long-term project, Bayern parted ways with the 35-year-old head coach on Friday.
The departure of Nagelsmann from Bayern came as a surprise since the club was expected to stick with him for a long time. Die Roten had paid a hefty fee to RB Leipzig in 2021 to get Nagelsmann. The former Hoffenheim head coach had signed a five-year deal after arriving in Bavaria, which is considerably long for a coach in modern football.
Die Roten wanted Nagelsmann to build a dynasty that achieved success in Germany and Europe. Despite facing a few stumbling blocks in the last two seasons, they consistently reassured fans that Nagelsmann was not going anywhere.
It did look like Bayern chiefs made a hasty decision to part ways with a promising coach. While talking to the media on Saturday, Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn insisted that the club didn’t panic and decisions were made after analysing the performances of the team over a long span. Oliver Kahn also insisted that this decision was made to protect the sporting goals of the current campaign.
"“Nothing big changed, we all see him as an excellent and very good head coach, and on a personal level we understood each other over the course of the last year and three quarters.”“But it’s our responsibility and duty to sort out the sporting success of this club, and so we asked ourselves the question of what’s the reason behind the big changes in performance. So, this isn’t a panic decision. It’s got nothing to do with panic. We had a close look at everything, and we took the emotions out of the decisions.”"
Bayern chiefs have appointed Thomas Tuchel as the new head coach. The German coach has been out of work since leaving Chelsea in October. He has enjoyed success with Borussia Dortmund, PSG, and Chelsea, so he definitely has the pedigree to win on the big stage.
The Bavarian club had previously tried to sign Tuchel. When Carlo Ancelotti was sacked in 2017, Bayern contemplated a move for Tuchel. However, the German coach was not ready to wait for a long time, and he took up a role at PSG. Bayern eventually went on to appoint former midfielder Niko Kovac.
Tuchel was expected to get offers from big clubs in the coming months. Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid are likely to have a new coach next season, so Tuchel would have been one of the strong candidates for both roles. Bayern chiefs probably felt that they had to act decisively to get Tuchel or else risk losing him to one of their European rivals.
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Time will tell if the decision made by Oliver Kahn and co was right. For now, Tuchel needs to hit the ground running since Bayern is competing on all fronts. The next three weeks will decide their fate in all three competitions as they face Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and Freiburg in the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB Pokal, respectively.