Play Nice With Bayern’s Stars

Thomas Tuchel has been living in Munich for weeks. He has been spotted walking his dog in Bogenhausen, a leafy, affluent neighborhood on the Isar river. His two young daughters and ex-wife live in Munich. But now, Tuchel has truly arrived in Munich. In Bavaria’s temple of elite football, the shiny Allianz Arena.

Smiling on the press podium, sat between Bayern board members Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn, Tuchel explained why he joined Bayern: “On a personal level, it is great for me to work in Bavaria, the state where I was born, and to live close to where my children and my family live.”

Besides that, it was all business from Tuchel. “The DNA of the club is a responsibility. It is clearly defined. The responsibility is to win,” he said, with Kahn and Salihamidzic looking pleased on either side of their new signing.

But there is another, more important responsibility at Bayern. One not uttered by Tuchel. He must win over one of the most difficult locker rooms in European football. A squad packed with big personalities like Thomas Müller or Manuel Neuer, who use the informal “Du” with Bayern board members and frequently knock on the doors of executive offices at Sabener Strasse.

Tuchel may have won over Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at PSG. Achieving the same level of trust with the Bayern stars will make or break his Munich coaching spell.

The praise that Bayern’s bosses Kahn and Salihamidzic heaped on Tuchel revealed their larger agenda: To get the chemistry right again between coach and players.

“When you follow his career path, it is impressive. He worked for Paris Saint-Germain. There are easier tasks than to lead that type of group,” said Kahn.

Great managers like Carlo Ancelotti or, more recently, Julian Nagelsmann, were fired by Bayern in part because they lost the support of key locker room figures like Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller.

Asked whether any Bayern players approached him to complain about Nagelsmann, Kahn said this: “I always try to bring players into my office for a coffee and a chat. That is also a strength at Bayern. At every moment in time, we had a very clear picture of our players’ opinions.”

The statement doubled as a warning to Tuchel to play nice with the stars.

“The relationship between coach and team is always reflected on the pitch,” added Salihamidzic. “We saw that we were unable to deliver a harmonious performance on the pitch [under Nagelsmann].”

Salihamidzic turned to mathematics to drill down his point: “If we are honest, coach + team has to equal 2. For us, [with Nagelsmann] it was more like 0.5.”

It is essential for the new coach to get the chemistry right, so that Tuchel + team will equal 2. But with more than a dozen players away with their national teams until Thursday, the new coach has almost no time to bond with his team.

So how will Tuchel prepare Bayern for the match against Dortmund, a club that is unbeaten in the Bundesliga in 2023 with a 9-1-0 record?

“Less is more,” Tuchel said. The 49-year-old wants to avoid conversations about Nagelsmann. “I don’t want to put the players in that position to talk about what went wrong in the past.”

He won’t call Kimmich on the phone before they meet, Tuchel added. He won’t do lengthy one-on-one chats with his roster before the first match, either. Instead, Tuchel wants to “get the work done in training, on the pitch.” Even on a tight schedule, “there’s always time for that.”

Regarding formations and tactics, Tuchel repeated himself: “Less is more. I have some ideas of what I want to do, but there is little time with the squad. I’m also waiting for the feedback from the players and the analysis of my team.”

In April, Tuchel must help Bayern survive and thrive in three competitions. First up is the Bundesliga, where Bayern hosts Dortmund next weekend. They can retake first spot with a win or a draw against Tuchel’s former team. Second, the German DFB-Pokal cup, where a quarter-final against Freiburg beckons. Third, the two Champions League ties against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Tuchel can rely on a fine roster to get the job done. Munich’s 29 players have a total market value of $1.07 billion, according to transfermarkt.de, a football transfer database. Only Manchester City ($1.13 billion) and Tuchel’s former club Chelsea ($1.1 billion) have slightly more valuable teams.

“It is one of the best, most talented squads in Europe at the moment,” said Tuchel. “It’s a big challenge and joy for me to work with these players. They are competitive at the highest level, that’s how the squad was composed.”

With an average age of just 26.3, many Bayern players are nowhere near their prime. Jamal Musiala (20), Alphonso Davies (22), Matthijs de Ligt (23) or Kingsley Coman (26) are already starters. They will only get better with age.

No wonder that Tuchel’s only dream signing concerns his coaching staff, not the squad. “We are fighting for Anthony Barry to join us, he is my absolute top candidate. That is my wish. He is currently still under contract with Chelsea.”

Barry first joined Chelsea’s staff in 2021 under Frank Lampard. He stayed around, working with Tuchel and Graham Potter. The 36-year-old has also been assistant coach with three national teams, Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

Barry is still under contract in West London. It may be tough for Kahn and Salihamidzic to lure (or buy) him away from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. But it would be a gesture of good will towards their newest employee.

Tuchel has signed until 2025. In the next two months, he could win or lose three titles. Does he fear failure in the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League?

“A good striker does not ponder before his next game if he’ll miss a shot on goal. Just like that, there’s no point in me worrying about losing three titles.”