National crisis at Bayern Munich
“Coach” Nagelsmann in the crossfire of criticism
by Stephan Uersfeld
23/09/2022 at 12:15 pm (update)
Bayern Munich suddenly stopped winning the game. The championship fell to fifth place in the Bundesliga. Because it happens rarely, experts fall into the club. Coach Julian Nagelsmann is the focus of criticism. Doubt: He lost the bag! Thomas Müller has an idea.
4 games without a win, only 5th in the Bundesliga after 7 matches, 5 points behind the leaders Union Berlin, the longest winless streak in 20 years: FC Bayern Munich’s unexpected crisis is a celebration for those who explain the world, who understand everything. And those who do not play. Coach Julian Nagelsmann is at the center of criticism from inside and outside. But Joshua Kimmich, Sadio Mané and sports director Hasan Salihamidžić, who celebrated a lot for his transfer in the summer, still got their fat. It is the heyday of professionals.
Markus Babbel, former European champion and former Bayern player, is one of them. He led the ranks of critics. The 50-year-old calls for an immediate return to success and sees Nagelsmann as a duty. According to Babbel on Sky, he is “still Bayern’s coach”, a “great coaching talent”, but who now has to “learn quickly” and “make his mark”. A sign that shouldn’t stop at really big names. “Then you have to put Kimmich on the bench,” he demanded and attacked the international. He acted without discipline, “doing gymnastics everywhere, just not where he should be playing” and gambling from his position.
On the other hand, the speaker Mario Basler, sees Sadio Mané as a function. The world star, who landed in Munich with great applause, is in a mysterious form crisis. He didn’t score anymore. “It pisses me off with the way people attack Julian or the coach. What would Julian do with it if Sané ran to the goal three times and didn’t put him? Julian is an excellent coach,” Basler told Sport1 at the beginning of week.
Open to criticism from the team
But it’s not only with the usual difficult professionals who live from the crisis and their opinions always have to polarize. Criticism also comes from within the team. It is also reserved and brought from the back of the hierarchy. But anger is still spreading in the team. It’s fermenting
For example, Ryan Gravenberch, a new contract of 18.5 million euros. When asked by ESPN if he is not satisfied with FC Bayern, he answered: “Honestly, yes, I, you want to play, but the coach chooses another player, I have to accept, but it is difficult. To be honest, I expect more minutes.”
Things are stirring in the dressing room, which, according to a report by the unreliable but always opinionated “Sport Bild”, is slow with the coach. You can read about the “broken test” there. The expulsions of Carlo Ancelotti and Niko Kovac are remembered. with the addition of “it’s not that far”. But it makes beer. As the summary suggests. The mistake, it says there, is looking for “the most powerful cabin in the league” with Nagelsmann and not with himself.
What Nagelsmann is accused of
It should not be only about the conscious fashion appearance of the 35-year-old, not only about his relationship with the editor “Bild”, as already suggested on Monday in “Kicker”, but also about tactical considerations, replacement. and rotation, which is said to have caused “head shaking” in team circles. In addition to the performance crisis, the conversion rate is only 10.5 percent recently, so there are squad problems and doubts about the leadership of the coach.
Apart from Gravenberch, international player Jamal Musiala is said to be among the disappointments. He still needs more playing time and also knows, as “Player” writes, that the powerful referee Salihamidžić and technical director Marco Neppe are behind him. Salihamidžić himself was under pressure. After the departure of Lewandowski, he decided not to transfer the classic number nine and rely on the winger Mané. Also because Bayern did not agree with Erling Haaland. Amid the resurgence of classic fighters, Bayern went the Bayern way. It was a rough start at the beginning. One that has now led to an almost unprecedented winless streak in this millennium.
To prevent it all, the Corona infection of Captain Manuel Neuer and Leon Goretzka was added in this episode. In 2022, of course, all this will be less exciting than last year. But there is a risk of stopping for a long time. Then next Friday it’s against Bayer Leverkusen. Anything less than a win will only fuel further debate. Every failure carries a lot of weight in this situation.
Thomas Müller looks west
So, the question remains: How will Bayern emerge stronger from this crisis, which can almost be described as historic? Ralf Rangnick advises to stick with the coach, give him time and not participate in the debate that is held with pleasure. The man who brought Nagelsmann to Leipzig definitely saw Bayern. Unlike professionals who used to be excited, he relied on patience. Almost lost quality in football.
“He proved last year and at the beginning of the season that he can not only lead the team, but also let them play exciting football,” the coach of the Austrian national team told the newspaper “Bild”: “After the departure of Robert Lewandowski needed a little. Time.” Different game systems, different ways to score and the number of new players. Time seems not a bad idea.
Old hand Thomas Müller has a completely different idea. The national player recently clicked “Like” again in the social network LinkedIn. A stirring speech was made to him. There, a romantic picture with a sunset says: “Be positive so that bad people don’t want to be around you.” Life can be very easy. Now the result must be correct. Then the state crisis will end quickly and Müller will meet more positive people again.
(This article was first published on Thursday, September 22, 2022.)
