The 5-1 Bayern humiliation has made the headlines all over Europe. Eintracht Frankfurt had four consecutive defeats until the current champion came to town and went back to Munich with five goals in its net, which makes this loss even more embarrassing. And Bayern’s veteran Thomas Muller, was just short of naming this game embarrassing but demanded from his teammates to turn on ‘the anger engine’. The German press did point out that Manuel Neuer, so gloriously welcomed back to the team by Bayern’s executives, allowed five goals, which is something his predecessors Yan Sommer and Sven Ulreich never allowed. The result was so shocking that even the club’s legend Lothar Matthaus thought it was a mistake: ‘I listened to it on the radio on the way here. I thought the reporter mixed up the names, ’ he said.Bayern’s first defeat of the season is an old-school humiliation! Eintracht put five past terrible championsBut, even though the result was a bit too much, the actual defeat was not so surprising to the keen observers. One of the reasons for dismissing Julian Nagelsmann, even though he was at the top of the table at the moment, was that after the World Cup, the club played ‘less and less successfully and attractively’ as expected. Those were the words of CEO Oliver Kahn, who was also sacked in May. But since Thomas Tuchel took over, the game hasn’t improved, on the contrary. Bayern is winning, and often with a large margin, but they are not playing well. The main reason for their success is the fantastic form of Harry Kane, who gives the Bavarians an early lead, after which everything is easier. But in many games so far, Bayern either played badly or was even training back 1-0 but somehow managed to win.Bayern’s winter wishes: Italian wunderkind, Barca’s reject and Spanish internationalIn a 5-1 rout in Frankfurt, many flaws were finally punished. Speaking on a TV show, Leon Goretzka suggested that a bigger break (Bayern’s game with Union was postponed due to heavy snow) than usual could be one of the reasons for such a fall(!). Reporters are pointing to the fact that Munich players ran 10 kilometres less than their opponents, to which Thomas Muller replied: ‘We can also pick out games where we played well and ran less. I won’t be lured by statistics like that’. As far as Tuchel is concerned, the players (maybe) failed to understand his instructions.“We expected a back four. When we saw their line-up, we discussed a variant if Frankfurt played with a five-man chain. Maybe we gave the players too much information shortly before the game” said Bayern coach.Sane’s contract extension talks have stalled, Barca and Real are lurkingBut there are other reasons too, like Tuchel’s gameplan and the recruitment. Either he underestimated Frankfurt (four consecutive losses), or he wanted to rest some players ahead of the Manchester United game, but he placed Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a classic striker, to play behind Kane, totally overlooking the vast experienced Thomas Muller. He also started with Mazraiou on the right, even though Konrad Laimer played great there in recent weeks. And there is the recruitment part. Apart from Tuchel, President Herbert Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, honorary President Uli Hoeneß, Supervisory Board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, squad planner Marco Neppe and CFO Michael Diederich all participated in seven newcomers. Maybe too many? And the result was still not satisfactory as the coach didn’t have a proper cover at the back, so, for example, he couldn’t replace the awful Dayot Upamecano. There are certain parts of the team which are ‘thin’ while others are loaded. But Bayern were still lucky since Bayer Leverkusen only drew 1-1 with Stuttgart, so the points difference could be only one point if the Bavarians manage to defeat Union Berlin in a delayed fixture. But lessons must be learned from this defeat. Also, it should be noted that the last person who was defeated this badly was Nico Kovač, also against Frankfurt 5-1, and he was sacked immediately, something which Tuchel won’t experience. The former Chelsea and PSG coach is a much bigger name, and the board members invested too much in him to let him go so easily. But if the title is not won in June….##NAJAVA_MECA_7729368##
