2024-02-19 14:25:43
He competed to win titles. But Thomas Tuchel’s (interim) balance sheet reads modestly. His points average was only worse in Mainz.
Exactly 333 days ago, Thomas Tuchel took up his position as coach of FC Bayern. With him, everything that was no longer good enough for the Bayern bosses, who were still called Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić at the time, was no longer good enough under Julian Nagelsmann. Above all, the team’s performance. It was also hoped that there would be more peace in and around the club again.
Around eleven months later, the results are sobering. Instead of the question of how many titles FC Bayern will win in this first full season under Tuchel, the only question is whether the Munich team will even win a trophy. After the sensational loss against third division team Saarbrücken, the DFB Cup has been a thing of the past since November. Due to the clear defeat in the top game in Leverkusen (0:3), the embarrassing 2:3 in Bochum and now eight points behind the top of the table, the championship is practically over. Progress in the Champions League is also in great danger after the 0-1 first leg loss at Lazio Rome.
First titleless season in twelve years increasingly likely
In this condition, FC Bayern cannot be considered a serious contender for the premier class title anyway. The likelihood that Tuchel and Bayern will leave this season without a title is greater than the other way around. It would be the first season in twelve years without a single title for the record champions.
Last year, Bayern barely stumbled to the championship – with the kind help of their rivals Dortmund. It was the only title under Tuchel so far. They had previously ended their cup journey completely unexpectedly in the quarter-finals with a home defeat against SC Freiburg (in their second competitive game under Tuchel). In the Champions League, they were also eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual winners Manchester City.
For Tuchel personally, it is also the coaching position with the lowest points since he started working at top clubs. In Dortmund (2.12), at PSG (2.35) and Chelsea (2.08) he consistently collected more points on average (in all competitions) than he currently does at FC Bayern (2.02). Only in his first professional position in Mainz (1.43), which he held in his five years in the Bundesliga, were there fewer.
For comparison: Nagelsmann had to leave Bayern with a points average of 2.31. His predecessor Niko Kovac with 2.26.
Video | Is loyalty to Tuchel a mistake?
Quelle: Glomex
Tuchel: Leipzig’s fateful game?
Bayern clearly missed out on another title under Tuchel: In the DFL Supercup, there was a crushing defeat in front of their own audience in the first competitive game of the current season. 0:3 against RB Leipzig. Irony of events: Of all people, the Munich team will meet the Saxons next Saturday (6.30 p.m.) at the same place in what could be a fateful game for Tuchel.
If he wins, he will probably still have the opportunity to improve his modest points and title tally. If not, the former dream coach and professionally highly respected Tuchel will also go down in FC Bayern’s long coaching history with the stamp of “failed prematurely”.
And by expelling Nagelsmann almost a year ago, the club bosses achieved exactly the opposite of what they had hoped for: more unrest, fewer titles.