Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel will leave after the end of the season

The parade of announcements of high-profile coaching resignations in European football continued with Bayern’s announcement that it would part ways with its mentor Thomas Tuchel after the end of the season in the summer. The news followed a series of extremely unsuccessful performances by the German flagship, which suffered two consecutive defeats in the national championship and lost to Lazio in the first match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League.

Bayern Munich announced about the decision taken together with head coach Thomas Tuchel this coming summer, that is, a year before the expiration of the contract, to “terminate the working relationship.” The decision was described as the fruit of a “constructive discussion” between Tuchel and club CEO Jan Christian Dresen. He, commenting on it, referred to Bayern’s choice of a “new football direction” starting next season. Tuchel, in turn, promised that before he leaves the team, he will “do everything” to “achieve maximum success.”

The imminent resignation of Thomas Tuchel continued what already looked like a trend. Shortly before it, two other giant clubs announced their summer resignations in advance – Liverpool and Barcelona, ​​parting ways with Jurgen Klopp and Xavi. However, there is still a difference between these stories.

Information regarding the immediate future of Klopp and Xavi was still extremely unexpected for fans of their teams. The obvious reasons for their resignations were at least not obvious. Germany was ready for Tuchel’s resignation.

Thomas Tuchel, who before Bayern worked with Borussia Dortmund, PSG and Chelsea, and won the Champions League with the London club in 2021, led the Munich team at the end of last season. He appeared in a team that was going through a rather difficult period, which resulted in the dismissal of former coach Julian Nagelsmann. In March 2023, Bayern, accustomed to confidently winning gold in the national championship, let Borussia Dortmund advance and played very unevenly. The effect produced by the emergency personnel change is difficult to unequivocally assess. With Tuchel, Bayern was immediately knocked out of the German Cup, losing to Freiburg, and in the quarter-finals of the Champions League was unable to provide truly serious resistance to Manchester City. But she still somehow, almost miraculously, won German gold thanks to her April win in a head-to-head match against Borussia and luck in the final round.

The version about why Bayern’s leaders were disappointed in Thomas Tuchel looks quite obvious. Before the current season, the Munich team strengthened their squad by purchasing English super-scorer Harry Kane, who was in excellent shape, but, whatever one may say, they did not make a qualitative breakthrough. And in February, Bayern suffered a breakdown that was surprising by its standards.

First, it was defeated – 3:0 – in the German championship by its competitor in the fight for the title, Bayer. Then Bayern lost 0:1 in the first away match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League to the Italian Lazio, which was ranked much lower.

And on Sunday, in the German championship, the middle peasant Bochum managed to defeat it – 3:2. After this defeat, Bayern’s gap from Bayer seems virtually catastrophic – eight points 12 rounds before the end of the tournament. And Bild, describing these failures, also talked about Tuchel’s unsettled relationships with leading players, for example, Joshua Kimmich, who, due to a conflict with the coach, allegedly even thought about fleeing the club.

Now everyone who cares about Bayern will, apparently, be kept in suspense by the intrigue associated with the choice of Thomas Tuchel’s successor. So far, it seems there is no clarity with him. In the ranking of likely candidates for the vacant post Sky Bet, for example, the names of nearly a dozen well-known specialists appear. It is headed by Xabi Alonso, under whose leadership Bayer made a qualitative leap, without having the financial resources that Bayern has. Behind him are Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte.

Alexey Dospehov