The kit man. A PE teacher. Your grandma. Some people believe that anyone could coach Bayern Munich.
But you only have to look at the roll call of recent managers who have tried and failed to hold on for the long term to understand that the opposite is true. Ask Carlo Ancelotti, Niko Kovac, Hansi Flick, Julian Nagelsmann or Thomas Tuchel — demands are so absurdly high in Bavaria that the job is nigh on impossible.
To satisfy local tastes, the team have to win a bare minimum of two domestic trophies, make it at least to the semi-final of the Champions League and regularly vaporise opponents as they go along. Closely-fought victories in matches that can go either way will not be tolerated, as Thomas Muller explained last week.
“Winning is not enough, you also have to dominate,” the 34-year-old forward said. “A nice 3-0 would be considered OK.” Financial superiority and institutionally enshrined entitlement make for a hell of a combination for any manager, as Tuchel can confirm. The 50-year-old was under fire for playing it too safe long before results turned bad last month.
If the need to win in style and with minimum jeopardy wasn’t enough of a daunting challenge for the next man, he will have to deliver those thrills and trophies against the backdrop of a squad in transition. The players who won the Champions League in 2020 are either gone (Thiago, David Alaba, Robert Lewandowski, Jerome Boateng), out of contract in 2025 (Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Muller) or up for debate concerning possible sales (Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry).
In addition, there’s uncertainty around the future of Leroy Sane (contract until 2025) and Alphonso Davies, who won the Champions League with Bayern in 2020 and has reached a verbal agreement to join Real Madrid.
The club are increasingly coming round to the view that a major overhaul of the squad is necessary. It’s a double-edged sword for the new manager, however. On the one hand, the shake-up will offer him the opportunity to shape the team according to his wishes and have more of a say when it comes to new signings than usual.
But there’s also plenty of potential for conflict if the board don’t entirely agree with his views, as Tuchel’s abortive attempt to break up the Goretzka-Kimmich partnership proved. Either way, it’ll be a difficult transfer window, taking up lots of the new man’s energy. He’d better have the stamina and personality for it.
Managing up might also be a challenge considering Bayern’s leadership are themselves working out a new model. Max Eberl, the freshly-appointed board member of sport — who is honorary president Uli Hoeness’ man — will be a powerful voice, but it will be interesting how well he will work with sporting director Christoph Freund in months to come. While Eberl insisted that he and the former Red Bull Salzburg supremo will have a collegial relationship “of equals” at Sabener Strasse, any personal tensions or sporting disagreements that arise won’t make life easier for the new manager.
One level up, the continued influence of Hoeness and supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge behind the scenes further muddy Bavarian waters.
Ultimately, though, the fifth Bayern coach in four years can only succeed if he builds a strong connection with the dressing room. Opinions within the club differ as to whether the team need more love or rather some tough love. The composition of next season’s squad will depend a lot on the outcome of that discussion, but whatever the size of the purge, Bayern’s stability on the pitch will depend on the manager and his team enjoying a close emotional bond.
The coaches who won the biggest trophies in recent years — Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jupp Heynckes, Flick — did so by winning over the players first. Truth be told, Guardiola also came close with a more technical approach. Some Munich-based critics thought he would have gotten over the line in the Champions League if only he had man-managed the squad better.
It’s that positive, collective energy that the team have arguably been missing most since Flick’s departure in 2021. Whoever follows Tuchel will have to instil togetherness, employ exciting but defensively sound attacking football, and negotiate the complex club politics. Anything else? Yes. Ideally, he’ll speak German and have some sort of Bayern past as well.
This long list of necessary qualifications doesn’t leave the club with many options this summer. Anyone but their preferred candidate, Xabi Alonso, will feel like a gamble of sorts.
(Top photo: Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
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