Bayern know solely successful will soothe burn of Neuer saga

Instantly after a 10-man Bayern Munich defeated Wolfsburg 4-2 on Sunday, midfield chief Joshua Kimmich admitted the one true answer to the membership’s off-field woes was to win games on it.

“There’s at all times extra calm within the membership after we win games. Our three attracts (in a row) meant turmoil,” stated Kimmich.

“The unrest across the membership will lose significance if we win matches.”

The win, the membership’s first league victory in 2023, got here amid an ongoing saga surrounding injured captain Manuel Neuer, which might do the unthinkable and pressure the Bayern stalwart out of the membership.

Neuer’s ‘inform all’ interview with The Athletic and Sueddeutsche Zeitung, printed Friday, prompted a number of members of the Bayern hierarchy to hit again, publicly directing their ire on the once-untouchable goalkeeper.

– ‘Knocked me down’ –

Regardless of the membership’s unshakeable place atop the German football tree, issues don’t at all times go easily behind the scenes at Bayern.

The present stretch of 10 straight Bundesliga titles could have seen unprecedented consistency on high of the desk, however the facet has gone by means of eight coaches — together with two stints from Jupp Heynckes and one transient caretaker position — in that point.

The most important fixed at Bayern throughout this era, and certainly all through the Bundesliga period, has been that successful solves all the things.

Neuer, who broke his leg whereas snowboarding in December and is ready to overlook the rest of the season, was essential of the choice to fireside goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic in late January.

Neuer stated he couldn’t “comprehend” the sacking which “got here out of nowhere”, saying it “knocked me down” at a time “once I was already on the bottom”.

A detailed buddy of the two-time Champions League-winning keeper, Tapalovic moved with Neuer from Schalke to Bayern in 2011 and had been a key part of the teaching group since.

The interview was not solely unauthorised; the membership didn’t learn about it till moments earlier than publication.

The times after the interview noticed CEO Oliver Kahn, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and supervisor Julian Nagelsmann all come out to criticise the injured captain.

Salihamidzic stated on Sunday that Neuer was “placing his private pursuits above the pursuits of the membership”, and stated “as captain I might have anticipated a special perspective from him”.

Nagelsmann complained that “15 of the 16 questions I received” at Sunday’s post-match press convention in Wolfsburg had been concerning the Neuer saga.

– Irreconcilable ‘variations’ –

When saying the sacking of Tapalovic, Bayern put out a brief assertion citing “variations about the way in which we work collectively” for the choice to half methods.

The sacking got here days after goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel, at the moment on mortgage at Monaco and seen as a future No.1, publicly criticised Tapalovic for ignoring him in favour of Neuer, revealing that he had not spoken to the coach in any respect throughout his time within the principality.

German media speculated that the sacking of Neuer’s shut buddy could have been a Nagelsmann resolution, forecasting a showdown between the 2 which might finish in Neuer’s exit.

Neuer known as the sacking “probably the most brutal factor I’ve skilled in my profession”, implicitly pointing the finger at Nagelsmann, saying “in all these years I’ve by no means heard any coach say something destructive about Toni… ask Pep (Guardiola), Carlo (Ancelotti) or Niko (Kovac)”.

Former Bayern coach Kovac, now at Wolfsburg, sat alongside Nagelsmann at Sunday’s post-match presser and instructed the media “I at all times had a powerful relationship with (Tapalovic)” throughout his 15-month stint on the membership.

Talking with Bild on Sunday, Salihamidzic stated Neuer risked a superb for his unauthorised interview, which could possibly be as excessive because the reported 50,000-euro penalty levied on then captain Philipp Lahm when he defended under-fire coach Louis van Gaal in an unauthorised interview in 2011.

Nagelsmann stated he was now “selecting to not communicate publicly concerning the topic” however added “I would not have completed the interview”.

The membership’s winter buy of Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer has additionally been seen as a provocation, with the 34-year-old — two years youthful than Neuer — given a deal which expires in 2025, a 12 months later than the Germany keeper.

Finally, whether or not Neuer is seen again in a Bayern shirt could rely on whether or not it’s vital from a sporting perspective.

At a membership the place successful is all the things, Neuer’s return to the sector — and return to high kind — could be the solely factor that heals the rift with the membership.

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