Rumors of constant executive interference were ever present in Bayern Munich’s latest coaching search, which went through multiple rejections and lasted many months. Between reports of former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge speaking against Julian Nagelsmann, and Uli Hoeneß vetoing a move for Hansi Flick…it seemed like the Bavarian machine was being weighed down by too many opinions from too many influential figures.
But Bayern executive board member for sport Max Eberl does not see it that way. Granted, Eberl was never going to publicly criticize these figures. But the former Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director took pains to explain that he was happy to work with the club’s powerful legends in an interview for 11 Freunde.
“Don’t worry,” Eberl reassured in comments captured by @iMiaSanMia. “In my early days in Gladbach I was the greenhorn and had to deal with [board member] Hans Meyer and [vice president] Rainer Bonhof. I consider it an honour to be on an equal footing with these greats here at FC Bayern. And it would be stupid if I didn’t use their know-how. In addition, [Bayern sporting director] Christoph [Freund] and I have already shaped a path at other clubs and proven that we are not one-hit wonders.
“We do the groundwork and we make the decisions as a group. I would only find it strange if 50 million transfers were constantly rejected by the supervisory board. But that hasn’t happened yet.”
But there have been public statements from Hoeneẞ — notably, when the honorary president warned, “Max Eberl and Christoph Freund know full well that no one else will be signed if one or two prominent players don’t leave.”
But Eberl did not see such statements as meddling — because Hoeneß was internally and externally consistent.
“I have no problem with that because he said exactly the same thing to me personally: ‘Max, one thing is clear, we signed three players now, now we have to start earning something,’” Eberl revealed (again as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “So I know: There’s no double bottom, Uli means exactly what he says and he only cares about the well-being of the club.”
Learning to work with all the other influential figures at Bayern and prove to be competitive in the inevitable power struggle is absolutely necessary at FC Hollywood. But it seems that Eberl has engaged this task with a real relish and belief in the system. Let us see how far that will bring him and how much more than a one-hit wonder he can prove to be…
