Bayern Munich has won their final test ahead of their big Champions League fixture against Real Madrid on Tuesday. The Bavarian giants beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 thanks to a brace by Harry Kane (9’ and 61’ penalty). The lone Frankfurt goal was scored by Hugo Ekitiké.
With Real Madrid on the horizon and ongoing debates about the next head coach, the match against Frankfurt was almost secondary today. In fact, current head coach Thomas Tuchel produced the biggest headline before the match when he reacted to an interview by former Bayern president with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
In that interview, Hoeneß had criticized Tuchel for not developing talent at Bayern. “I don’t blame Thomas Tuchel; he often had dinner with me at Tegernsee, I get along with him very well,” Hoeneß said in the interview. “But he has a different take. He doesn’t think he can improve a Davies, a Pavlović, or a Musiala. If it doesn’t work, [he thinks] you should buy another one. While I think you should work hard on them and give them confidence.”
Tuchel’s response: “That’s so far from reality, I don’t even know how to answer,” Tuchel said to Sky Germany ahead of the game against Frankfurt. “I’m hurt in my coaching honor. If we have proven something over the past 15 years, it is that players from the academy always have a place with us if they perform well. I have little understanding of it [Uli’s statement]. I think it’s absolutely baseless.”
The statement might be indeed a bit unfair. While Tuchel will have to take some blame for needlessly sending away Munich-born Josip Stanisic to title-winner Leverkusen, he did promote Aleksandar Pavlovic from the academy. The 19-year-old midfielder has already been called up by Germany and has the potential to become one of the best holding midfielders in the world.
Then there is the development of Mathys Tel. The fan base has often been frustrated with the playing time of the young Frenchman this season. But the numbers underline that the 19-year-old has made a big step forward in his development this season.
Let’s compare it to last year. During the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign, Tel played 397 Bundesliga minutes, scoring five goals in 22 games. This year, Tel has played 779 Bundesliga minutes in 27 games and scored six goals and four assists. That’s progress in line with normal talent development.
In other words, Tuchel is right to shoot down Hoeneß’s statements. But Hoeneß’s statements might be about something completely different anyhow.
The almighty former Bayern boss might be simply reacting to a fan petition asking the club to reconsider potentially hiring Austria boss Ralf Rangnick and keep “Juppel” Tuchel instead. The “We want Juppel (Thomas Tuchel” and no Ralf Rangnick” petition on Change.org has already been signed by over 15,000 fans.
“This question is like the noise-making neighbor at three in the morning if we’re honest,” Tuchel said at the press conference before the Frankfurt game. “I’ll set my headphones to noise-canceling mode and ignore that. This topic won’t help me tomorrow and won’t help me on Tuesday – and it’s not my topic.”
Indeed, the Bayern bosses and Tuchel seem unimpressed by the petition. Both parties are adamant that they want to stick to their respective decisions and simply move on. As for Rangnick, his appointment is now only a question of time.
The Rangnick rumors, the petition, and Hoeneß’s interview aren’t ideal ahead of the big Real Madrid fixture. On top of that, Jamal Musiala missed Saturday’s game against Frankfurt, and Konrad Laimer and Matthijs de Ligt picked up injuries during the fixture.
“Konny Laimer has twisted his ankle and has a capsule injury,” Tuchel said. “Matthijs de Ligt has a ligament injury in his knee. We have to see if both of them are fit by Tuesday. Jamal Musiala stopped training yesterday; the pain came back. It was not possible to include him in the squad today. With Matthijs de Ligt and Konrad Laimer, we have to wait and see what the scans say.”
What does all that mean for the big game against Real? Possibly nothing. If anything, Tuchel has developed an uncanny ability to set up his side perfectly for big Champions League fixtures. After all, all those issues already existed ahead of the games against Arsenal, and Bayern advanced with two strong performances.
Those sorts of performances will also be necessary to beat Real. Tuchel is the man to set up his side, and if he is successful, that will only increase fans’ demands that he keep the head coach rather than hire Rangnick.
Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth and on Threads: @manuveth
