Tuchel ran one-man show at Bayern — Matthaus
Former Bayern Munich player and legend, Lothar Matthaus, has slammed former coach, Thomas Tuchel, for his leadership style at the club.
Matthaus held that Tuchel’s attitude and lack of belief in his players’ abilities were among the factors responsible for his short stay at the club, BBC reports Sunday.
“In the last two years, Bayern Munich was not a family. Bayern Munich was a one-man show, and that one-man show was Thomas Tuchel. He is a good coach, but not for Bayern Munich.
“It was not going down well in the dressing room because when you are (Joshua) Kimmich, when you are (Leon) Goretzka, players who wrote history at Bayern Munich, who won titles, now Tuchel is coming and saying he is looking for a number six? Saying I am not good enough?
“The atmosphere was not good because everyone was thinking, ‘I am not good enough for Bayern Munich any more but I won eight titles in the last eight years, I won the Champions League and I play for the Germany national team. What does he want?’ Matthaus queried.
He added that such a situation was no good fit for the German giants, saying, “This was a big problem because he did not give the players confidence. He lost a lot of players who were very important for Bayern Munich.”
Tuchel was appointed in March 2023 after the dismissal of another former coach, Julian Nagelsmann.
Matthaus, who captained West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup, believes the trophies will come for striker, Harry Kane, now that Tuchel has departed.
In August last year, Kane penned a four-year deal with the Bavarians for an initial 100m euros (£86.4m) plus add-ons, after leaving Tottenham Hotspur as their all-time top scorer with 280 goals from 435 appearances.
However, the England captain, despite scoring a massive 36 Bundesliga goals in his first season at Bayern, his team finished a disappointing third, 18 points behind champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern were also knocked out of the German Cup by third-division side Saarbrucken, while they lost to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“I do not think he [Kane] will score 36 goals again. But perhaps he will not need to. He will be motivated this year with a new coach, with a new team, with a new spirit,” Matthaus, a seven-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern Munich, told BBC Sport.
Matthaus believes new coach Vincent Kompany who succeeded Tuchel at the helm of the club, will bring the Bavarians back to winning ways.
The former Burnley manager had faced Kane — his frontman, in several matches while he played for defending English Premier League side, Manchester City.
But Matthaus expressed his confidence in Kompany, saying, “I know him from when he played for Hamburg, he knows the Bundesliga, he speaks the language.
“To be a coach at Bayern Munich you must understand the mentality. The new coach is talking with the players, he is hugging the players, talking clearly with them about what he expects.
“The atmosphere is much better and I think that atmosphere, as you saw last year in Leverkusen, can make the difference.”
The Bayern legend asserted that his old club would win the 2024/25 Bundesliga.
He said, “Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich are the favourites for me. I see them both at the same level but I have this feeling that Bayern Munich will win.”
Kompany’s first league game in charge is on Sunday when Bayern go to Wolfsburg (14:30 GMT), with Kane – who has yet to win a major trophy – set to lead the attack.
