Inside Bayern Munich's crisis as Thomas Tuchel accused of 'undermining everyone'
FC Hollywood are making a "horror movie."
That's how dismayed midfielder Leon Goretzka describes things at Bayern Munich, as they risk losing their grip on the Bundesliga title.
They came close last season to ending their decade of dominance; a dramatic final-day slip from Borussia Dortmund allowed the Bavarian heavyweights - given their Hollywood nickname in the 1990s thanks to their players making as many front-page headlines as on the back - to get their hands on a record 11th consecutive title, much to the relief of newly-appointed manager Thomas Tuchel.
This term, though, the title race looks set to be sewn up long before the last matchday. Following Sunday's dire 3-2 defeat away to mid-table Bochum, Bayern now trail surprise league leaders Bayer Leverkusen by eight points with 12 games to go.
It's not an unassailable lead but Leverkusen's 3-0 win at home to Bayern last weekend, having earned a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture in Munich, showed further signs that Xabi Alonso's men are the real deal. The same can't be said for Tuchel's charges, whose Champions League hopes are also on the rocks after suffering a 1-0 loss away to a middling Lazio side in their last-16 first leg.
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So, what the hell is going on?
In the case of Tuchel's reign, you don't need to go very far back to see where the cracks emerged. Having had the chance to win a Treble when first appointed last March, the German giants were soon knocked out of the DFB Pokal and Champions League, leaving only the Bundesliga title to show for the season that marked predecessor Julian Nagelsmann's departure.
Mere minutes after their 2-1 victory in Cologne on the final day, Bayern announced that under-fire CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had also been sacked. The reshuffle was supposed to bring harmony behind the scenes at the Allianz Arena, but the summer transfer window was anything but.
While Bayern eventually got their hands on top target Harry Kane for an initial £82million, their failure to sign a No.6 severely frustrated Tuchel. Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha even underwent a medical on the deadline day, but the deal fell through. Reports of discontent soon emerged and although star signing Kane was banging in the goals, the behind-the-scenes negativity was beginning to seep through onto the pitch.
Harry Kane's goals haven't been enough for Bayern Munich (Lars Baron/Getty Images)Having been trounced 3-0 by RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup - Kane's debut - a humiliating 2-1 loss to third-tier Saarbrucken in November further dented their trophy hopes. Surely their title defence was go smoothly, right? Nope.
Despite Kane's marvellous tally of 25 Bundesliga goals, Leverkusen are champions elect, with former Bayern midfielder Alonso among the candidates to succeed Tuchel this summer. Although it took until December 9 for Bavarians to lose their first league game, it was a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt and Tuchel's side don't seem to have recovered since.
Three straight defeats is representative that not unlike in previous campaigns which saw the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Niko Kovac and Nagelsmann - who lost fewer games than Tuchel has in almost double the matches - given the boot, there are deep-rooted issues coming to a head. Long-serving forward Thomas Muller gave a glimpse into just how messy Bayern's situation is - and perhaps how difficult of a position Tuchel remains in - with a remarkable post-match rant after being hammered by Leverkusen.
"To be honest, I'm p***** off," Muller, now in his 16th season in the Bayern first-team, told Sky Germany. "To quote Oliver Kahn: What I miss from us players are the balls in the game. We are showing significantly better approaches in training. It's okay to feel pressure, but there needs to be energy and freedom. That's missing in our game.
"Sometimes we have to speak about us players. It's not just about the coach. "We have many international players at the highest level, we need to step up our game."
Thomas Muller pleaded with supporters after last Wednesday's loss to Lazio (Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)Tuchel - no stranger to an acrimonious exit, it should be noted - has more and more frequently been left looking at his dressing room in disbelief. Sky Germany even claim that the former Chelsea manager had told Bayern's players after the lifeless defeat to Lazio, in which Bayern didn't muster a shot on target: "You're not as good as I thought, so I'll have to adapt to your level."
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By questioning his players' credentials, it's believed that there's now a growing divide between Tuchel and the stars he's going to have to rely on as the pressure ramps up. That belief was given further credence by a senior Bayern official, who told the Athletic after the loss to Bochum: "He's undermined everybody."
Tuchel has failed to strike much of a bond between himself and the squad during his 11 months at the helm. The dressing room are growing unhappy with his man-management style and the ex- Paris Saint-Germain boss has clashed with a number of senior players, notably Germany's midfield duo of Joshua Kimmich - out of contract in 2025 - and Goretzka. Bild claim that after Sunday's defeat, Kimmich called out one of Tuchel's assistants, Zsolt Low.
Matthijs de Ligt's regular absence from the starting XI is also a big talking point around the Bundesliga, as Bayern paid £68m to sign him in the summer of 2022 after three years at Juventus. Having only started one defeat this season, the Dutch centre-back was benched for the trips to Leverkusen and Rome - although he did get the nod against Bochum.
Tuchel, however, argued last week: "We're planning [for the future] with Matthijs, he's a top player and top guy. Matthijs came back injured from the national team, missed all pre-season. We played him too early in the Super Cup, then he got seriously injured again."
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Thomas Tuchel's recent comments to the media haven't gone down well (A. Beier/FC Bayern via Getty Images)Not only are rumours adding to the uncertainty surrounding Tuchel's future, but his public comments, too. Speaking at a fan event the day after Barcelona manager Xavi announced that he'd be leaving at the end of the season, Tuchel remarked: "Moving abroad would appeal to me again.
"Spain has an extraordinary league. From my perspective, and based on my experience working with Spaniards, they are characterised by a tremendous amount of self-confidence. When you speak with Spanish players, I quickly get the sense that you are engaging with the person."
Those comments caused a stir in Germany, with Dietmar Hamann labelling him a "disgrace." Bayern even released a statement hitting back at "non-factual" media analysis, but Tuchel refused to accept an apology from Hamann after the ex- Liverpool midfielder confessed that he'd misconstrued his comments about La Liga.
Only a fortnight prior, though, the 50-year-old had admitted that he felt more appreciated while managing outside of Germany, particularly in the Premier League.
"Yep [I did]. Pretty simple question," Tuchel admitted. "I feel we are very critical of each other in Germany, especially with players and coaches. It is very hard to escape. There is a picture and this picture is basically the picture for years and years. I felt more appreciation in England, yes."
Despite the swelling negativity, Tuchel has got backing of the man who replaced club legend Kahn as CEO, Jan-Christian Dreesen. Speaking as the post-mortem began on Sunday evening, Dreesen declared: "I don't believe in big statements about the coach. This issue isn't on our mind at the moment. Of course [Tuchel will be in charge next week]."
It's another big week for the Bundesliga champions, as on Saturday they'll host Leipzig, just as they did for the Super Cup final back in August. Come kick-off at 5:30pm UK time, Leverkusen could already be 11 points clear, as they welcome Tuchel's former club, Mainz, for Friday night's fixture.
An embattled Tuchel attempted to put a positive spin on things at Bochum, with Bayern having been reduced to 10 men when De Ligt's defensive partner, Dayot Upamecano, was sent off for the second game in a row. "I don't think the defeat was a fair result today. A lot went against us," Tuchel claimed.
"We had five or six clear-cut chances and dominated the game. We went behind out of nowhere, but never gave up until the final whistle. We were outnumbered for a long time. I feel the defeat was different to the last two, it was undeserved.
"Everything that could go wrong did go wrong today. We perhaps lost a bit of momentum after the break and Bochum used that to fire themselves up. Overall, we performed differently today than in Leverkusen and Rome. We never lost hope."
That hope, though, is now a flickering ember.
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