The seeds of Bayern's chaos

In 2020, the future of David Alaba is a topic of interest in Germany with speculations about joining Real Madrid. In an interview with Sky Sports at the time, Thomas Muller emphasized that the Austrian team-mate was still performing well on the field and was not affected by the lengthy contract negotiations behind the scenes.

But then, the German striker commented jokingly. "It's also interesting for the fans, when there's a bit of drama at Bayern," added Muller. "I used to love reading about it - the so-called FC Hollywood at the club - and now I can watch it live."

That particular period did not end well for Bayern, as Alaba joined Real on a free transfer. But overall, the Austrian defender's departure did not cause too much disturbance at the Allianz Arena, and Bayern's situation at that time was certainly nothing compared to the chaos waiting to engulf the team today.

Since the beginning of 2023, there have been changes on the coaching bench, altercations in the dressing room and disastrous defeats that have raised doubts about a crisis at Bayern after years of relative stability. Instead of the prospect of a treble as expected at the beginning of the season, Bayern is now in danger of being empty-handed on all fronts.

But in fact, the influence and status of the players has long been a matter of the club. At the end of Bayern's first golden era in the 1970s, players rioted behind the scenes that led to the sacking of coach Gyula Lorant. But instead of bringing Lorant's assistant, Pal Csernai, to power as the players wanted, then-Bayern president Wilhelm Neudecker chose coach Max Merkel.

However, the players continued to riot, when voting against the appointment of the Austrian coach. Nuedecker was humiliated and resigned as chairman, and was replaced by Willi O. Hoffmann. Csernai became the new head coach, but it was Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge or Uli Hoeness who really led the team.

"For the first time in the history of German football, several players took over an entire club," writes German journalist Thomas Huetlin in his book 'Gute Freunde'.

Since then, no other group of players has wielded the same level of power at Bayern. But the coach always seems to be the weakest person at this team. And recent events reinforce that fact.

The reason given by the leadership is that Bayern fell in the Bundesliga and lost the top spot to Dortmund. The 1-2 loss at Leverkusen was considered the "last drop" that caused Nagelsmann to lose his job. However, in the Champions League, Nagelsmann's Bayern still flourished with eight wins, including beating PSG through both rounds of the 1/8 round.

According to Goal, those who follow Bayern closely understand that things are not going well behind the scenes. Nagelsmann has never hidden his desire to lead Bayern, publicly saying it is his dream job since working at Hoffenheim. It was an impressive display of ambition, that he was confident he would have no problem developing in a high-pressure environment like Bayern's.

But at Bayern, some key players have the feeling that Nagelsmann is a bit too attention-grabbing, that he wants to be a star at the club. Some players think that the 35-year-old coach is very quick to take credit for himself, but rarely praises the team.

Nagelsmann has a good relationship with Joshua Kimmich - the most important player in his tactical construction at Bayern. But at the same time, this relationship became a seed of discord, when the German coach did not have the same connection with captain goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Not only that, Nagelsmann's dismissal of Toni Tapalovic - Neuer's longtime goalkeeping coach - at the beginning of 2023 seemed to "pour more fuel on the fire". The source of this decision is said to be related to leaked information from the coaching staff. Neuer was disgruntled when his real teacher lost his job, publicly criticizing the club in an interview. Everything was resolved satisfactorily when the German goalkeeper talked directly to the Bayern leadership and accepted to pay the fine.

Two months later, Nagelsmann publicly criticized the Bayern player as a "mole" for revealing his tactics to the German media. He questioned the intent of the leaker, and called the incident a "betrayal of football rules". The 35-year-old coach clearly feels the tension and suffocation behind the scenes.

After the 2-0 loss to Monchengladbach in February, Nagelsmann suddenly attacked the referee in front of journalists waiting in the mixed area, as the German coach went straight into the referee's dressing room. Just over a month later, when losing at Leverkusen, Nagelsmann criticized the players for being "lazy" and "not enthusiastic".

Bayern's sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, was also displeased, admitting: "I have rarely seen a team play with so little motivation, spirit, dynamism and determination." Although no one has directly said that Nagelsmann is at fault, Salihamidzic's comments are seen as an indicator of the Bayern leadership's dissatisfaction when the German coach cannot motivate his students to give their best in the Bundesliga, as they do. played in the Champions League.

However, "Gray Lobster" still received criticism when changing the coach. Nagelsmann's representative said the client only learned about the dismissal through the media. The Bayern members confirmed the opposite, but admitted that there was no face-to-face meeting with Nagelsmann before announcing the decision, because at the time, the coach was skiing with his girlfriend in Austria.

Both Salihamidzic and CEO Oliver Kahn confirmed that the change of champion was purely for professional reasons. However, the fact that Tottenham, Real and PSG are simultaneously interested in Thomas Tuchel - the coach that Bayern pursued many years ago - is said to be another reason for the sudden change of head coach of the Bundesliga champion.

Like his predecessor Nagelsmann, Tuchel blamed Bayern for exposing the Mane - Sane friction to the media, and wished that this conflict was kept in the dressing room. But the former Chelsea and PSG coach emphasized that the matter was over when Mane was suspended for one match and fined $ 555,000.

But everything is definitely not over when Mane will continue to be "scrubbed" by the German media in the near future and his future is also unclear. Sport1 believes that Bayern can sell Mane to get funds to buy a striker - a position that is missing after Robert Lewandowski arrives at Barca in the summer of 2022.

Since arriving in Germany, Mane has been in decline, unable to occupy the starting position and only scored 11 and assisted five goals in 32 matches in all competitions since the beginning of the season. In the last 10 matches, he was mainly on the bench waiting for a substitution, not scoring any goals and providing only one assist.

According to Goal, Mane's high salary but decline has become a topic of discussion among teammates at Bayern. The Senegal striker even had a heated argument with Nagelsmann right before the German coach was sacked. Goal does not rule out the possibility that Mane will continue to be a problem under the new coach Tuchel.

After a lackluster performance in the 1-1 draw with Cologne at the end of January, Serge Gnabry angered the Bayern leadership while attending Paris Fashion Week. Salihamidzic has criticized the German star's behavior as "amateur". "That's exactly what Bayern shouldn't be, going somewhere else when it's just a day off," he said.

"What's happening at Bayern is just an old episode of FC Hollywood," Goal commented. "Of course, the question now is what happens next? But with FC Hollywood, it's impossible to predict."