Even without crediting Bayer Leverkusen for the amazing feats they reached under Xabi Alonso last season, Bayern Munich’s season under Thomas Tuchel was well short of satisfactory despite nearly making it to the Champions League final at Wembley. There was simply no sugarcoating the fact that it was the Rekordmeister’s first season in over a decade without silverware, and to add to that, it was on the heels of a season where they just barely stumbled to lift the Meisterschale, thanks in large part to mishaps from their direct Bundesliga opponents.
By a certain point after the winter-pause last year, it had become evidently clear to even the most casual of Bayern spectators and followers that Tuchel had lost a portion of the dressing room. More importantly, it had become clear that he had lost the backing of the supervisory board and the front office, who knew it was time for a change after the conclusion of the season.
Vincent Kompany was nobody’s first choice to replace Tuchel at Bayern, but board member for sport Max Eberl has insisted that the former Burnley and RSC Anderlecht manager’s name was always on a short list of candidates. Now, he has Bayern poised in the Bundesliga at the top of the table, though they have already lost twice in the Champions League.
Even with the two European blunders, former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has noticed a positive uptick in the atmosphere in and around the club compared to last season. It could possibly be taken as a slight, indirect dig at Tuchel, but Rummenigge was more concerned with focusing on the current positives he sees right now. “The atmosphere at FC Bayern has improved a lot. It’s fair to say that it wasn’t good last year. With the new coach, a really good atmosphere has returned because he’s doing a good job. Not only are we currently top of the table, but the quality of the game is also good. That’s the most important thing. And the quality has returned to the level that we had during our incredibly successful years,” he explained to DAZN (via @iMiaSanMia).
Photo by Jürgen Fromme – firo sportphoto/Getty Images
To Rummenigge’s point, Bayern did not necessarily perform poorly, per se, in their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa or their 3-3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt, or their 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, but the recent 4-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League was perhaps the outlier in that sentiment. They were well and truly outclassed by former Bayern and Germany manager Hansi Flick against the La Liga giants, but that still does not take away all the good we have seen thus far under Kompany’s management.
There is still plenty of time to get back into a good spot in the Champions League standings and there is nothing to suggest that there will be an implosion of their domestic form any time soon. Kompany has the full backing of the supervisory board and front office and will continue on trying to guide Bayern to a far better finish than last season.
Looking for more talk and analysis on what is going on with Bayern Munich? We have you covered with our latest episode of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show. Let’s discuss what fans can look forward to, what fans should be concerned about, and what we should take out of all of the stories floating around regarding the higher-ups and how they feel about the coach. You can get the podcast on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
