For the Barcelona fans, the news that coach Xavi will leave Camp Nou came as a shock, even thou the results were obviously bad. But this action had consequences all over Europe, Germany and England in particular. The search for the new coach has already begun, but the press was quicker even than president Joan Laporta and listed their candidates. In fact, they already mentioned that some of them are as good as signed. Others were ‘caught’ by the fans and spoke out, and their words were misinterpreted. Things got so messed up, that both Mikel Arteta and Bayern Munich had to speak officially and deny everything. Bayern Munich reacts after Thomas Tuchel has been strongly linked to the Barcelona job: “We will no longer accept such non-factual statements directed against our coach”, says Bayern Munich’s CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and Sporting Director Christoph Freund. pic.twitter.com/sKMaAtztXv— François Plateau (@francoisplateau) January 29, 2024 As a former Barcelona youth player and a successful coach in the Premier league, Mikel Arteta is a logic choice to consider, and he will surely be on Laporta’s whishlist. But some Spanish media already announced that he is seriously thinking of taking over at Camp Nou, forcing the Spaniard to come out officially. “That’s totally fake news. What you read yesterday is…I don’t know where it is coming from and it is totally untrue. I am really upset about it. I could not believe it. I don’t know where it is coming from and it has no source. It has got nothing and I think we have to be very cautious when you talk about personal things to put it in the way it was put yesterday. I am in the right place. I am with the right people. I feel really good about it. And, as I said many times, I am invested in a beautiful journey with this football club, with these players, these staff, our people, and there is still a lot, a lot to do” he said at the press conference. The bidding has started – who are Barcelona’s realistic options for Xavi’s replacement?The other great coach was also linked with Barcelona, but not in the way Arteta did. Thomas Tuchel was ‘tricked’ by a fan, who asked him if he would like to coach somewhere else in the future, and specifically asked about Spain. “Sure, Spain… it’s an extraordinary league. From my point of view and from the players I worked with, that is characterized by an incredible amount of self-confidence. I also have the feeling that you quickly talk to the players in a very direct way” he said while answering to questions in the Bayern’s fan club “Red Stars” in Heidenheim. Barcelona is just too hard and heavy: Xavi gives up!The old Bayern critic and former Munich and Liverpool player Ditmar Hamman was quick to conclude that this was deliberate. “He is a very intelligent man, something like that doesn’t just slip out of his mouth. Only he has to know one thing: If you are an employee of FC Bayern, taking on the management – that was rarely a good idea. Then he sits down and talks about Xavi, about the successor and that he would like to train in Barcelona or Spain. That’s a disgrace!” said Hamman. Incoming! The Bavarians break Turkish transfer recordBut Bayern Munich stood by his coach and even made an official announcement in order to make everything clear. “On Sunday, as part of a fan club visit, our head coach Thomas Tuchel was asked by the supporters about his coaching career and his previous experiences abroad at Paris St. Germain and Chelsea FC and of course he gave information about this in the conversation. He also answered general questions from fans about Spain as a football country. He never spoke about Xavi Hernández and his successor, as was subsequently falsely claimed. We will no longer accept such unobjective statements directed against our coach, which always come from the same place” reads the statement signed by CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and Sports director Christoph Freund, in which they obviously aim at Hamman. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7828935##
