The German national football team coach, Julian Nagelsmann, has evaluated his time as the manager of Bayern Munich, and the club’s strategy on manager and club relations, describing it as worse.
Nagelsmann stated that rather than the club giving manager’s time to develop on the job, the club was often too hasty to take decisions on their first team particularly on their managers.
Looking back on his time with the club, the German national team coach told newsmen yesterday that he would have liked more time from the club management.
“Let’s put it this way: I made mistakes, but I think the club did too. The club’s bosses at the time, Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic, didn’t have the head space to look after me” at times.
Nagelsmann, who took over Bayern for the 2021/22 season, and was fired in March 2023., added: “I came at a time when the club was going through a phase of change with Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn in the club management, and then I joined as a young coach. I think that the transition was perhaps a bit too much under these circumstances and that Oliver and Brazzo first had to free themselves from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß. And that’s why they didn’t have the head space for it, or perhaps not the standing, to take much care of me”.
He would also have liked to see “more calm” and patience from Bayern especially with Vincent Company technical crew.
“Let’s take a few examples: How long did Jürgen Klopp need at Liverpool to win their first major title? Pep Guardiola at Manchester City to win the Champions League ? At Bayern? That’s expected from one day to the next,” he added.
Nagelsmann was also self-critical. Compared to his current time as national coach, he said he had criticized his players too often in the media.
“The criticism was received, the players understood the message, but it didn’t improve anything. I do things differently at the DFB . I speak very clearly internally, but nothing gets through to the outside world,” he said.
For him, after the failed November 2023 internationals against Austria (0:2) and Turkey (2:3), it was clear that, with a view to the European Championship at home, not only a cut in personnel but also a change in mood was necessary.
“Everyone arrived like beaten dogs in March for the games against France and the Netherlands. It was like a self-help group,” revealed Nagelsmann. He then said to the players: “Cool, now we’re playing against France and the Netherlands. We’ll beat them and then we’ll be European champions.”
