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The new coach trio of FC Bayern: Xaver Zembrod, head coach Julian Nagelsmann and Benjamin Glück
Photo:
ANDREAS GEBERT / REUTERS
On Wednesday, Hasan Salihamidžić gave a glimpse into the heart of his office.
"I have a new espresso machine," revealed the FC Bayern sports director and happily added that Julian Nagelsmann had come up to him for a cup the day before.
"This is how we imagine FC Bayern, this is how we want to go into the future," added Salihamidžić. And: »We want first-class communication." What remained unsaid: With Nagelsmann's predecessor, Hansi Flick, communication mostly seemed to be on a level between 3B and 5F. If any.
Presentations by new coaches at FC Bayern traditionally take place in amicable bliss with many words of praise on both sides.
On Wednesday, Julian Nagelsmann sat on the podium, flanked by Salihamidžić and Oliver Kahn, the new CEO.
On this day you could feel that they deliberately wanted to increase the harmony factor compared to earlier performances.
It would not have been surprising if they had switched on the soft focus when switching video with the media.
Flick as a personified misunderstanding
Because even if not many words were lost about Flick as coach of the most successful short episode in the club's history, except that Salihamidžić admitted that there had been "differences": his own failures, the conflict that had prevailed for many months between the team’s moderating popular coaches and the sports director and having to let Flick go at the end, that's still preoccupying the club.
A second case of Flick, which in the end almost felt like a personified misunderstanding, despite all the unique successes, they definitely no longer want at Bayern.
That is why, it seems, you have found exactly the right person in Nagelsmann.
Someone who slept in Bavarian bed linen as a child and to whom they gave them new bedclothes at the start, in their original packaging.
Someone who said four years ago during his time in Hoffenheim that FC Bayern would make him even happier and who now, in his own words, had to talk to his wife Verena for a whole "five minutes thirty" about whether it would be okay with her too to move back to their hometown.
Someone who is now grateful to be back in his Upper Bavarian homeland near the beloved mountains and who, in his own words, has to tweak that this is not a dream either, that he can be a coach at the Heart Club at the age of 33.
Brav and reserved
Above all, Nagelsmann is probably someone who will not make any great claims for the time being.
Unlike once Flick, who after the installation to the head coach immediately extended his elbows and clearly formulated his wishes, especially when planning the squad.
The fact that his wishes were not fulfilled was the trigger for the eternal quarrels.
Nagelsmann, on the other hand, was very good and reserved on Wednesday.
“Of course I'll give my opinion, but in the end the club wears its hat.
I understand all the financial aspects.
The club pays the player and obliges the player, "said Nagelsmann, adding:" The half-life of a player is usually longer than that of a coach anyway. "A remarkable statement in view of the five-year contract he himself signed with Bayern .
The board made it clear on Monday that the club was not planning any major activities on the transfer market until the start of the season in a month, when President Herbert Hainer put the loss in sales due to the corona pandemic at 150 million euros.
Nagelsmann will have to get by with the squad he has.
Kimmich never plays as a right-back anymore
And yet Nagelsmann will of course not throw himself in the dust every day out of sheer humility and gratitude. The pressure from the board of directors is far too high for that, the expectation that it will win nothing but a lot of titles. To deliver success, Nagelsmann already has a few ideas. "A more flexible way of playing," as he said. So not always stubbornly with a back four, but also with the back three he preferred in Leipzig, which at least newcomer Dayot Upamecano should still master very well from their times together.
According to Nagelsmann, it is important, and it almost sounded like a swipe at Joachim Löw and his tactical orientation of the national team at the EM, "to let the players play in their best position and not with the basic order that best suits the opponent." . Translated: Joshua Kimmich never plays as a right-back anymore.
Nagelsmann kept a low profile on specific personal details. Except that Manuel Neuer will of course remain captain. However, things got interesting at Leroy Sané. »He has outstanding qualities and incredible speed, one of the best players in one-on-one. We need players like him who can create solutions against low-lying opponents with the ball at their feet. "But it is also clear:" A player's inner drive is also required. I can support players with training and speech. You have to take the step in the right direction yourself. "
Another common thing that was said on this Wednesday was the word "era".
The Bayern bosses had always said it in the past, whether they introduced Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti or Niko Kovač.
That the new coach should shape an era.
But mostly nothing came of it.
Oliver Kahn was most likely to be hit when he spoke of the desire for »continuity«.
Seventh coach in ten years
Nagelsmann is the seventh coach in ten years at Bayern, and Joshua Kimmich recently complained that such fluctuation was too high.
Whether Nagelsmann will really stay in Munich until 2026, whether they'll kick him out earlier or even extend it in the end: As always, it's a question of success.
Especially with Bayern.
Nagelsmann knows that he “doesn't have time for a leisurely transition”, that young players like Tanguy Nianzou “shouldn't need 20 games” to get used to the level at Bayern, but that they “jump into the breach straight away " have to.
If that doesn't work, it's of course the coach's fault.
At the end of the presentation, Julian Nagelsmann was asked whether this was his happiest time professionally, alluding to the statement from 2017 that a commitment to FC Bayern would make him “even happier”.
"Please ask me again in a year," replied Nagelsmann.
"If I have won something, then definitely: yes." And if not?
Then at some point another coach will drop by the sports director for an espresso.
