3 managers who could take over at Bayern Munich
Emphatic performances in the last four games have helped Bayern Munich regain their lost confidence. Despite bragging one of the best squads in Europe, Bayern had lost their way in the league and, at one point, were seventh in the Bundesliga. A crushing defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt was manager Nico Kovac's swansong and spawned a void that sent ripples down the managerial ranks of the world football.
It is not easy to take over the onus of leading Bayern Munich that has once been spearheaded by legends of the game like Jurgen Klinsmann, Franz Beckenbauer, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Ottmar Hitzfeld. With the calling of the Bayern preceptor, comes a sense of great responsibility and probably a need for strategies unparalleled by any technical counterpart in football.
Hans-Dieter Flick has been currently shouldered with the charge of supervising the Bavarians till the end of the season where a review of his performance will be done. Flick has put up a decent show until now which includes a 6-0 thrashing of their Champions League opposition Crvena Zvezda, a humiliation of Werder Bremen and convincing victories against formidable opponents like Tottenham Hotspur and their arch-rivals, Borussia Dortmund.
Despite being tamed by Monchengladbach in a high-octane encounter, and by a numerically undercooked Bayer Leverkusen, Flick has focused on the importance of speed to this side. As a reward of his perseverance, Bayern has shown faith in him until the end of this season before they make a call.
A side that breathed fire on the wings through Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, at times teasingly called ‘Robbery’, faltered after both the veteran wingers bade adieu. To add woes to Bayern’s misfortunes, Kovac couldn’t come up with a substitute for both these heroes of the wing.
When left at the disposal of Flick, he had to do a lot of contemplation to restore Bayern to their former scintillating greatness. With a steady statement until now, if he can keep up the momentum, Bayern may look forward to resorting to this man permanently. However, with the cut and run competition in the Bundesliga and with the variety of opponents faced by the German stalwarts, the management will probably resort to someone more experienced than Flick in the summer to arrive. We will look at three most potential candidates who can gobble up the prestigious role of being a manager at this illustrious club if Flick fails to live up to his billing.
3. Thomas Tuchel
A name that is synonymous to the development of young German football players such as the likes of Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t been in good touch of late with French giants, Paris Saint-Germain.
Hailing from Krumbach, Tuchel spent his playing years at Stuttgarter Kickers and SSV Ulm. Upon his retirement, Tuchel expressed his proclivity for the managerial role at the club. His career started with the U-19 squad of VfB Stuttgart, where he latched on to the position for a whopping five years before returning to Augsburg.
Impressed by his coaching flair, Augsburg deployed him as a youth team coach. After a relentless pursuit of brilliance at Augsburg, he finally headed to Mainz, in an attempt to fill in the boots of Jurgen Klopp. With very limited resources at hand, and with an uphill task of keeping Mainz alive in the Bundesliga, not only did he propel them to a respectable ninth-place finish, but he also gifted Germany an exciting crop of young players which features a name like Andre Schurrle.
With a staggering number of 72 victories under his tutelage at Mainz, he was approached by Borussia Dortmund. Despite ending up in a failed experiment at Westfalenstadion, Tuchel introduced talents of the highest order to the world that includes the likes of Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele, and Raphel Guerreiro. His figures at Dortmund read 68 victories with an astonishing win percentage of 62.96, an enviable figure for any manager.
After his stint at Dortmund, he was summoned by PSG to replace Unai Emery. He is currently at the helm of the Parisiens with some brilliant numbers to back his cause. With 62 victories along with just 11 defeats and 8 draws, Tuchel has relished a win percentage of 76.54 at the club.
Now with the German's well-known ability to hone young players beyond unfathomable greatness, Bayern Munich will be an idyllic place for the manager to bask in. With versatile players like Benjamin Pavard, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and more up his sleeves, Tuchel will be able to strike a perfect combination with legends like Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, and Ivan Perisic. Tuchel’s playing style features possession football with quick attacking patterns.
With a battery powered by Lewandowski and Perisic, Tuchel will find the most powerful duo of Germany in the context of clubs.
There is one astonishing sight at Bayern which we have observed over the past couple of years. Tuchel also has a name for great reading of the situation. If Tuchel takes over the reins of the club, this would probably not be something that Bayern will have to worry about. With his adept game reading prowess, he can strike the perfect changes needed to the side to take back the control.
Given his meteoric rise and establishing himself at renowned clubs, one won’t be surprised if Bayern rope him in for the next season as their boss.