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“It seems like an endless horror movie,” said a shocked Leon Goretzka after the final whistle.
Bayern Munich’s 3-2 defeat in Bochum on Sunday certainly capped a nightmare week of three consecutive defeats for the eternal German champions that have plunged the club into a deep crisis.
Now eight points behind still-unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen, this strangely unfocused and disorganized Bayern team does not seem capable of keeping up with, much less surpassing, Xabi Alonso’s men. Their Champions League future is also at stake, following the 1-0 away defeat against Lazio last Tuesday in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.
Coach Thomas Tuchel put on a brave face after last night. Unlike Leverkusen (3-0 loss last weekend) and Roma, he felt his team did not deserve to be beaten by Bochum, who started the day just six points clear of the relegation zone and were beaten by 7 -0 for Bayern in the second leg. reverse match in September.
“It was Murphy’s law: everything was going against us,” Tuchel said in relation to defender Dayot Upamecano being sent off for the second time in five days after committing a foul in the penalty area and his forwards wasting three big chances. “Today I can’t blame my players. “If we played this game again, we would have a high probability of winning it.”
Look at Bayern’s expected goals (xG) figure of 3.35, the fact that they took 27 shots to Bochum’s 10 and had more than two-thirds of the possession, and Tuchel had a point.
But in Munich success is not defined in hypothetical terms. Had they secured a late draw against Bochum, or an even later win, their inconsistent performance would not have been much less worrying.
Midfielder Goretzka’s assessment was more accurate. “It’s individual mistakes we make, and a lot of them,” he told national gaming broadcaster DAZN. “At the moment I think we have to question everything.” When asked if he still believes Bayern can win the Bundesliga this season, his verdict was even more forceful: “Not now. “I’m being honest about it.”
For the umpteenth time since Tuchel’s reign began 11 months ago, the team was a mediocre mix of some half-decent periods and periods of timid fragility. That famous Bayern DNA, a deeply rooted belief in its own magnificence, seems hopelessly buried beneath an ugly stain of collective uncertainty, or perhaps lost amidst a sense of dark foreboding.
Instead of drawing strength from their run of 11 consecutive league titles, these players seem gripped by the fear of becoming the team to end that golden era.
Perhaps Tuchel is simply unlucky to have reached the inevitable twilight of a historic period of dominance. Bayern were already poor enough not to win the league last season, but somehow managed to achieve another championship when Borussia Dortmund threw it all away with a home draw against Mainz on the final day.
This season, they are objectively a better team than that one: more stable defensively and more efficient in attack, courtesy of new signing Harry Kane (25 goals and counting in the league after scoring late yesterday to halve the deficit) , but still prone. to disconcertingly bad off days that threaten to end their quest for trophies for the 2023-24 season with three months of football still to play.
Internally, there is talk that too many important and well-paid personalities have lost their hunger. But all the players have lost form and confidence in recent weeks, highlighting Tuchel’s role once again.
The 50-year-old former Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager has failed to form a great bond with most of the players in the dressing room after implicitly questioning their credentials on many occasions. “He has undermined everyone,” said a senior member of Bayern’s management The Athleticon condition of anonymity due to the volatility of the situation at the club.
As countless coaches before him have discovered, tactical skill counts for little if you can’t keep the locker room on your side.
Further signs of disenchantment were seen on Sunday night when midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who had been substituted in the second half when it was still 11 against 11, exchanged angry words with assistant coach Zsolt Low at the end of the match. “It’s a normal thing as long as it doesn’t go too far, and it didn’t go too far,” Tuchel said of that incident.
However, things between him and the team are so bad that club bosses consider the situation essentially unsustainable. The only real question is whether the results will allow Tuchel to finish the season.
Bayern have already explored their former coach Hansi Flick as an emergency replacement, but some power players at the club are unsure whether the 58-year-old will be able to repeat his streak of total conquest from 2020 and early 2021 (six trophies) after monitor horrible results. with the German team, which has half a dozen Bayern players.
The club would prefer to get ahead with Tuchel and take advantage of the time between now and the summer to target a big name who will come in and renew the entire team with a new impetus for next season. Leverkusen coach Alonso, who played in Bayern’s midfield from 2014 until his retirement in 2017, is, unsurprisingly, his dream candidate.
Meanwhile, Tuchel is safe, at least for another six days. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen confirmed to reporters in Bochum that Tuchel would “naturally” be on the bench for the home game against RB Leipzig next Saturday afternoon, but also warned that “such oaths of loyalty are not They usually last more than a week. .”
A fourth straight loss could force the board to pull the plug, even without a savior ready to step in. The last time Bayern lost so many consecutive games was in April and May 2015, but the team led by Pep Guardiola had already won the title by then.
People used to complain that the Bundesliga season ended in March. This year, it may not take as long.
(Top photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images)