Former Bayern Munich midfielder, Lothar Matthaus, has described the decision of Bayern Munich to part ways with Julian Nugelsmann as a mistake.
Nagelsmann spent two years as Bayern boss after his appointment in April 2021. His sacking in March 2023 – while he was on a skiing holiday in Austria – shocked world football.
The Bavarians at the time were in the running for three titles: the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the Champions League, only to lose grip on two of those, a few weeks after Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as Nagelsmann’s replacement.
“I think Bayern Munich in the last 12 months have made a couple of mistakes, on the field and around the field,” he told Joy Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru.
“I did not understand – even today – why they changed coaches in a moment when they had the results.
“Sure, they were not playing excellently, but in the Champions League, they had eight games and eight wins. And they were not playing against second level teams in Europe. They won twice against Inter Milan, who are now in the Champions League final. Two wins versus Barcelona with Lewandoski and also against PSG with Lionel Messi.”
Matthaus, who spent 13 years with the German giants, concedes Nagelsmann may have had some issues with the dressing room but that was not enough to lose trust in a ‘young coach’.
“I did not understand the change of coach. Surely, the coach did not have all the players because some were on the bench and wanted to play. But Julian Nagelsmann is a young coach. He can make mistakes, he made mistakes, but he needed support from the CEO of the club, the Sporting Director and sometimes they left him all alone.
“And this I think was the biggest mistake from two months ago and now we can see the results: Champions League goodbye, German Cup goodbye and the Bundesliga? 99% they will not win for the first time in 10 years.”
Matthaus was speaking at an event at the German Ambassador’s residence in Accra, Ghana, following his acquisition of Ghana Premier League side, Accra Lions.
