Disaster, severed heads and punches: the Bayern of troubles

2023-04-17 00:29:02
With some 300,000 registered members, Bayern Munich is the largest sports club in the world; no other has as many affiliates. It also presents an unusual profile in Europe: its enormous financial superiority makes it almost automatic champion of the Bundesliga, a classic team that represents German football in the European concert with its band of good manners and efficient management. Recent months, however, have produced worrying pictures for the Bavarian club: in February, goalkeeper Emmanuel Neuer gave a very critical interview with his club after breaking his tibia in a ski resort after the World Cup (and losing the captaincy for it); A month ago, the squad forced the dismissal of their coach, Julian Nagelsmann, two weeks before a Champions League quarterfinal; This same week, after losing 3-0 in Manchester, two stars of the team (Sadio Mané and Leroy Sané) staged the hangover with a fight in the Etihad Stadium locker room (they had to be separated by several teammates; the Senegalese player was separated from the team and fined half a million euros). For a club that has traditionally defined itself with values ​​such as hospitality, paternalism and teamwork, Leroy Sané’s split lip is a countercultural scandal reminiscent of Frank Ribery’s punch to Arjen Robben 11 years ago over a dispute. about who should take a free kick. Although it has not been revealed what element of the dispute that began on the pitch later caught fire, it is clear that the defeat against City and the unexpected difficulties in the League (where they only have three points against Dortmund, who spared their lives this weekend) they have placed the club on the brink of one of those self-destructive crises that at one time, at the turn of the last century, earned it the nickname ‘FC Hollywood’. The challenge for the new coach, Thomas Tuchel, is threefold: first, he must win the Bundesliga (his team have won the last ten); second, he must also make up this Wednesday at least for the poor performance shown in the first leg against City, where the team was blown away by Upamecano’s mistake in the 2-0 draw; Third, he will have to manage the renewal of a squad that still longs for Robert Lewandowski and has been listening to the words ‘generational change’ for a couple of seasons. The conquest of what would be the eleventh consecutive German league has become a more important issue than expected for a team that has come to win championships by 25 points, used to weakening its great rival (Borussia Dortmund) when produces a franchise player (see the signings of Götze, Hummels or Lewandowski himself in the last decade). Although Bayern emerged from the coronavirus pandemic as a better-managed club benchmark than other European powers (Juventus or Barcelona, ​​for example) in the face of the emergence of petrodollars (2-8 against Messi’s Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League was its peak), its power has also suffered from the new strength of club-states and the Premier, whose teams increasingly look to the Bundesliga as a fishing ground (and can, furthermore, promise even better salaries). Related news standard No Manchester City – Bayern Munich City leaves Bayern groggy Sergi Font standard No Football Bayern, to cakes after the debacle against Manchester City MZ The premature departure of Nagelsmann is the direct responsibility, according to the German press, of the Munich dressing room . The Bayern players were suspicious from the beginning of his youth and little football career as a player. After a lukewarm first season, the team has shown a worrying lack of confidence and security this year, definitively confirmed by the implosion of the team in the last third of the game in Manchester. Many players are far from their worst version, something that was confirmed again this Saturday in the draw against Hoffenheim (and that was mentioned by Tuchel at the press conference). The discreet and professional management formula that gave Bayern so much success in the glorious decade of 2010 seems to have dissolved a year and a half after the arrival of Oliver Kahn to the general management of the club. And with the advantage of perspective, one can probably see in Lewandowski’s rough outing last summer a first sign of rust. The strong conflict between the club and the already ex-captain Neuer two months ago once again pushed the institution to the limit. Nagelsmann’s departure is the third proof that the team has no clear direction, although it maintains a hallmark: the stars continue to command a lot. The draw against Hoffenheim only added to the tension before the European return on Wednesday. “Our performance amazes us,” said the captain, Thomas Müller, this Saturday; “We can now thank Stuttgart” [por empatar 3-3 ante el Dortmund], “the coach is also very surprised.” Tuchel, who said last Wednesday that he had “fallen in love” with his team despite the 3-0 loss in England, acknowledged this Saturday after drawing in the league that “it was time to take a clear step forward […] and to awaken fire and confidence; we were not successful in any of those goals.” The only optimist, it seems, is the team president, Herbert Hainer, who this weekend told the newspaper ‘Bild’ about Mané’s punch (which he described as intolerable): «He and Leroy Sané let off steam. Something like that can even be like a healing rain… ».
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