It’s a strange time to be in Bavaria. Amidst the most pivotal run of games of the season, Bayern Munich have made a stunning change at the manager position, sacking Julian Nagelsmann and bringing in Thomas Tuchel with fixtures like Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City immediately on tap.
Step one, a Der Klassiker win over Dortmund, is now in the books. But the media is still abuzz with the fallout of Nagelsmann’s unexpected sacking, and many of the Bayern players are still processing it themselves. It’s an unusual position Tuchel finds himself in. Often, the new coach comes in after the old one leaves the club in tatters and everyone is ready for a new voice. Tuchel has a fine line to walk — and so far, he’s threading the needle with aplomb.
“I can feel what Julian is going through. I was in a similar situation twice before,” Tuchel commented after the win over BVB (via @iMiaSanMia). “My dismissal from my previous two clubs didn’t have much to do with me. That’s life as a coach. We’ll try to bring the season to a successful end, also for Julian and his staff.”
A savvy tone and a good way to win over his players, several of whom were still dedicating Saturday’s triumph to Nagelsmann. As Chelsea FC found out, the grass isn’t always greener, and perhaps one day Nagelsmann will have Bayern looking wistfully from afar at his next project.
But for Bayern, the only way now is forward under Tuchel. On to the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League!
Interested in a more in-depth look at the game? Curious about why Thomas Tuchel chose a 4-2-3-1? How did it differ from Nagelsmann’s Bayern? We talk about all that and more in our postgame podcast. Listen to it below or at this link.
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