FC Bayern suffered the next bankruptcy in Heidenheim – with an announcement. Coach Thomas Tuchel made a fatal decision that backfired.
Munich – Anyone who listened carefully to Thomas Tuchel before the game against Heidenheim could already have guessed what the coach of FC Bayern Munich was up to. It was not necessarily expected that his decision would have such a dramatic impact that led to the 2-3 disgrace against the promoted team. However, these should no longer be surprising; one should have seen the disaster coming sooner.
Defense chief de Ligt? Tuchel reacts with bench space
At the press conference before the Heidenheim game on Friday, an “extremely annoyed” Tuchel raised the alarm for Bayern and announced five absences. The personnel problems came at an inopportune time before the important weeks in the Bundesliga and Champions League. However, the FCB coach can make full use of the central defense. Most recently, the defensive duo Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier had established themselves. This prompted a journalist to ask Tuchel whether de Ligt was now on his way to becoming defense chief.
Tuchel grimaced. Instead of strengthening his supposed leader, he publicly criticized him. “I don’t know, he played well,” said Tuchel, who was obviously caught on the wrong foot by the question about de Ligt. “But he had the same problems with all of us against Dortmund. This result (0:2; editor's note), the way it was played, was the starting signal for everyone that the cards are being reshuffled to a certain extent, nobody can rest and everyone always has to fight for their place.
Tuchel's fatal decision speaks volumes
Tuchel noted that he was “very, very happy with Matthijs,” “he did very well, together with Eric Dier.” However, they also had very good games with Minjae Kim and Dayot Upamecano. “The decision for tomorrow has not yet been made and the decision for the remaining games has not been made.”
“We turned back the clocks again. As I said, I am very happy with his performance and his condition over the last few weeks, but he was also on the pitch on Saturday and none of us were happy with us,” Tuchel continued. “We have four strong central defenders, everyone wants to play and we will decide from game to game who fits best.” De Ligt, who has been in place since the defeat in Leverkusen on February 10th and has mostly formed the central defense with Dier, sat then in Heidenheim actually only on the bench. Tuchel rigorously restructured the defense, a decision that made a statement and had fatal consequences.
Tuchel throws defenses over the top - with fatal consequences
As announced, Kim and Upamecano played for de Ligt and Dier, who were the only field players not used. The South Korean and the Frenchman both had a pitch-black afternoon. Why Tuchel had to turn back the clocks again before the all-important quarter-final first leg against Arsenal on Tuesday remains his secret. After all, the coach himself recently announced that the team had to get used to the crucial weeks in order to gain trust and security.
The change in defense turned out to be an own goal. Upamecano made serious inattention when conceding goals and received a grade of 5. Kim also cut an unfortunate figure. What will be remembered is a lost header duel and far too much space for Tim Kleindienst and Marvin Pieringer - the South Korean even got a 6.
FC Bayern ahead of Arsenal: Which defense stars will Tuchel put on the bench this time?
It will be interesting to see which defensive duo Tuchel will now trust against Arsenal with the offensive stars Havertz, Saka & Co. The fact is that none of the four candidates can be said to be well-coordinated, let alone self-confident. Expert Stefan Effenberg has noticed “total uncertainty” among the Bayern stars.
(ck)