After Bayern Munich lost a third consecutive game for the first time in nine years, midfielder Leon Goretzka confessed that he felt as if they were trapped in a neverending “horror film“. Well, it’s now claimed its first victim, with the club revealing on Wednesday morning that coach Thomas Tuchel will leave the Allianz Arena at the end of the season.
The decision to part company with the coach comes as absolutely no surprise, of course. Tuchel’s tenure was hanging by a thread even before last weekend’s shock loss at Bochum. However, the decision to drag this out until the end of the season is puzzling. Clearly, finding a suitable replacement at this stage of the season proved impossible.
But one cannot help but question the wisdom of continuing with a manager mystified by the nature of Bayern’s struggles – and at odds with some senior players. There is a very real fear, then, that Bayern’s bosses have done nothing but prolong the agony for Tuchel, Goretzka and everyone else involved.
Poor passing and individual errors
Tuchel had argued that the 3-2 loss at Bochum needed to be contextualised. Bayern had “an xG value of 3.4”, he pointed out, “and four, five, six top-class chances. We completely dominated the game and actually went behind out of nowhere. We never stopped putting in the effort until the end and then played with a man down for a long time. A lot went against us. I feel this defeat is different from the last two.”
And he’s right: Bayern are beating themselves in a variety of ways right now. They were absolutely atrocious from start to finish in their 3-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen 10 days ago, but actually started well in the midweek Champions League game against Lazio, only to bizarrely lose all belief against a side struggling in Serie A – even before Dayot Upamecano’s first red card of the week.
On Sunday, meanwhile, they would have won had they been more clinical in front of goal and less sloppy at the back. But what kind of consolation is that? Being good offensively and defensively is kind of a prerequisite for a side that has aspirations of success.
And do the differing natures of the defeats really make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things? All it really says is that this is a team coming up with different ways to lose.
The terrifying thing for the fans is that Tuchel looked lost, devoid of any explanations for the poor passing, “individual errors” and “horrible mistakes” now plaguing Bayern’s performances, because if he can’t figure out why his players are struggling to get the ball to Harry Kane and are so prone to lapses in concentration, what hope does he have of eradicating them before the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie on which the team’s entire season now rests?
