If you just rushed to the mirror to make sure that you haven't changed into Bill Murray, you're not alone. This is a tale that feels quite familiar.
It's not exactly news that Bayern can rarely hold onto a successful manager for a sustainable period of time. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that it's because the infamous nature of the club has a tendency to attract a bevy of talented but egomaniacal managers. Now, aren't all successful managers egomaniacal in some way? Well, of course. The issue is their outlook. Some managers care more about how they're perceived by the outside and as a result, intrapersonal relationships with the players fall by the wayside. Take a look at the likes of Jose Mourinho - he may be widely hated by a great many people, but his players love him completely, and that's what makes the difference.
We can only hope that one day our prince will come, Bayern fans.
Now I'd like to turn my attention to the second order of business and that would be Uli Hoeneß's comments. Papa Bayern is going to catch a lot of flack for what he's said. Personally, I'm someone who always has a certain admiration for honest reactions, even when they fly in the face of what is appropriate and professional. The man did his best to hold his tongue all season, I can't fault him for finally giving in. However, I would like to address a few of the things that he actually said.
“With the decision to take Butt out of goal, the whole thing went to shit. You can’t watch it anymore, especially after yesterday. It’s been a chain reaction, the whole defense was insecure.”
Unlike many, I don't consider this comment as solely a criticism of Thomas Kraft's skills because that would be disingenuous. Kraft had some truly bright moments in the past few months that showed that while he may not have the makings of an excellent goalkeeper, he can certainly grow into a solid one with more and more experience. The problem is, you can't stick an inexperienced goalkeeper between the posts when you're going to play musical chairs with your backline, never allowing any combination of players to truly develop a rapport and subsequently eroding the collective form of the defensive players.
"It’s about success..but it’s also about having fun. And there has been very little fun at this club for a long time."
The single more important poignant thing that he said. The players have appeared to be emotionally exhausted in some way or another all season and all the talent in the world can't patch that up. We need a manager who can inspire the players to lift themselves above that and to have fun again. Can Jonker pull it off in such a short time? Will Heynckes be that man for us next season? Only time will tell.
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