Thomas Tuchel sees progress at Bayern Munich. However, after the victory against Werder Bremen (1-2), the 49-year-old coach issued a call to the many stars in the squad; they must put their ego aside in the final games of the season.
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On Saturday evening, Bayern secured its second consecutive league victory and seems to be back on track for a title defense with three rounds of fixtures to go. This comes after a crisis two weeks ago following a 3-1 defeat at 1. FSV Mainz 05. 'I am happy with how we played and that we rewarded ourselves today,' said Tuchel in an interview with German media after the match. 'We were sovereign from the first to the last minute, it was a good away game. We just should have taken the lead earlier. It was a deserved victory.'
Tuchel sees that Bayern, after a difficult period in which it was eliminated from the Champions League and the German Cup and temporarily had to surrender the top spot to Borussia Dortmund, is back on track. 'The team also feels that there is more stability again. It's now just a matter of confidence and confirmation, we have to pull it off,' said the successor to the sacked Julian Nagelsmann about the league title. 'At the moment, we just lack a little bit of punch, we can play with even more bite.'
To achieve this, Tuchel needs his entire squad. The former coach of Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Dortmund made a clear call to the many stars in his squad, not all of whom can count on a starting place. 'We demand more energy from the substitutes, in that respect, there is still a world to be won and we will make that clear,' said the coach, who did not make it clear who he was specifically referring to. His message, however, was crystal clear: 'Some players need to put their ego aside.'
Müller
In Bremen, Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané provided a positive impetus from the bench. Especially Müller's substitute role has been a topic of discussion in German media. Lothar Matthäus criticized Tuchel before the Werder match, who, in the eyes of the record international, always comes up with a different excuse not to play the veteran. 'Many important players are missing and Müller is not allowed to play again. It seems like there are problems between Thomas Müller and Thomas Tuchel. This leaves a strange taste.'
According to Matthäus, Müller's experience and passion are qualities that Bayern currently needs in Tuchel's eyes. However, the coach denied that there are any problems. 'I am a big fan of Thomas,' said the coach in an interview with Sky Deutschland. 'He has trained well and of course he doesn't like this. I know what I have in him. This situation is not easy for him, but he deals with it great. He shows his character. However, the competition is enormous and someone has to make a decision. Unfortunately, that's me.'
Updated: 11:44, 7 May 2023
