2023-24 German Bundesliga Discussion Thread

[Foye]

Amiri signing an extension until 2028 despite offers from Stuttgart and Frankfurt and a low release clause this summer.
Great news. Without him we would've been relegated.

[magik9113]

Bayern have failed to sign the following coaches for next season already:
- Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
- Xabi Alonso (Bayer Neverlosen)
- Julian Nagelsmann (Germany)
- Zinedine Zidane (unemployed)
- Roger Schmidt (Benfica)
- Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace)
- Ralf Rangnick (Austria)
- Hansi Flick (unemployed)
- Erik Ten Hag (Manchester United)
- Julen Lopetegui (unemployed)
- Roberto de Zerbi (Brighton)
- Thomas Tuchel (current coach)

Nobody wants that job.

The updated list now also includes:
-Jose Mourinho
- Lucien Favre

I don't actually understand why coaches are avoiding them like the plague? At first glance, most of the coaches on that list aside from the unemployed ones simply appear to be content where they are.

[Foye]

Bayern have failed to sign the following coaches for next season already:
- Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
- Xabi Alonso (Bayer Neverlosen)
- Julian Nagelsmann (Germany)
- Zinedine Zidane (unemployed)
- Roger Schmidt (Benfica)
- Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace)
- Ralf Rangnick (Austria)
- Hansi Flick (unemployed)
- Erik Ten Hag (Manchester United)
- Julen Lopetegui (unemployed)
- Roberto de Zerbi (Brighton)
- Thomas Tuchel (current coach)

Nobody wants that job.

The updated list now also includes:
-Jose Mourinho
- Lucien Favre

I don't actually understand why coaches are avoiding them like the plague? At first glance, most of the coaches on that list aside from the unemployed ones simply appear to be content where they are.

The front office seems a mess currently.

You have Uli Hoeneß and Karl Heinz Rummenigge who have no official responsibilities anymore for day to day business but continue to cause drama through voicing their opinions in the media.
Last season Nagelsmann and Kahn were fired.

So they brought in Tuchel (coach) Max Eberl and Christoph Freund (responsible for the transfers).
Both Eberl and Freund are not proven to shopping with so much money and don’t seem to have a clear vision how to build the roster.

The transfers this offseason didn’t really help.
They spent all the available money on Harry Kane/ Min-Jae Kim and became older when they needed to get younger.

The generation Sane, Coman, Goretzka, Kimmich, Gnabry, Neuer, Müller is slowly but surely moving past their prime.

They have only Musiala, Tel (not proven), Davies (soon Real) and de Ligt in the younger generation.

They see themselves in the same league as Real Madrid but Real Madrid is lightyears ahead of them.
From the younger generation they have:
Vini Jr
Rodrygo
Bellingham
Camavingha
Tchouameni
Valverde
Güler
Soon Davies
Soon Mbappe

Bayern is getting older (worse) every season while already being inferior to Real or even Leverkusen in the own league. Leverkusens dominance will be broken due to players leaving. So Bayern will be back on top in the league sooner than later.
However, it will require a miracle to compete with Real in the next few years.

That said, I think the team chemistry at Bayern isn’t the best. You have guys like Kimmich, Sane or Goretzka who are claiming to be the leaders but aren’t really dominant enough to be in charge of that spot.
I‘d bet half of the roster doesnt respect them much.

All things considered, this is a role where you can’t win anything as a coach.
You are expected to win the league. If you don’t- you are the idiot.
If you do win the league and mess up the Cup and CL - you are still the idiot.

My honest opinion is that other coaches have taken note how things ended up for Nagelsmann and Tuchel.
So if they are in a comfortable situation - they stick to their current team rather than going for a most likely one year job at Bayern given that the current aging Bayern roster is in no position to fulfill the enormous expectations.

[Foye]

Everyone is interested in our golden boy Gruda.
Leverkusen, Leipzig, Dortmund and several Premier League clubs.

Hopefully, management is playing this one smart. We need to get another extension done.

Big plus that Amiri signed an extension. He is best buddy with Gruda.

[Pipp33]

Not sure if anyone would have predicted Kompany to Bayern a week ago

[Foye]

Not sure if anyone would have predicted Kompany to Bayern a week ago

Will probably cost a few more heads at Bayern other than Kompany if this doesn’t work out given Kompany just got relegated.

[Foye]

Fortuna steamrolling past Bochum.

3:0 away victory.

Glad we avoided the relegation games.

[-Luke-]

Not an easy task for Kompany (if they pay the money and get him). CL final next year is in their own stadium and everybody will be hyped to get there again after the loss to Chelsea more than ten years ago. And if they keep this team together I could see them having another season without a title. So a lot of pressure for a young coach. And I didn't even mention the interferences of the Godfather from Tegernsee.

They paid 25 Mio. for Nagelsmann and sacked him, now the 10 Mio. compensation for Tuchel and another big transfer fee for Kompany if they get him. Add to that the compensations for all the other coaches they sacked and Kahn/Salihamidzic they must be close to 100 million for their sacked personal in the last 6 or 7 years alone. Could have picked up a good defensive midfielder and a full-back with that money.

A bit sad that Bochum is going down in all likelihood. Always liked their stadium. But if they lose to us in the last game even though nothing was at play for us anymore (and we always lose those games), it's hard to stay in the league. Great effort by Mainz. Seventh place in the second half of the season.

[Foye]

Not an easy task for Kompany (if they pay the money and get him). CL final next year is in their own stadium and everybody will be hyped to get there again after the loss to Chelsea more than ten years ago. And if they keep this team together I could see them having another season without a title. So a lot of pressure for a young coach. And I didn't even mention the interferences of the Godfather from Tegernsee.

They paid 25 Mio. for Nagelsmann and sacked him, now the 10 Mio. compensation for Tuchel and another big transfer fee for Kompany if they get him. Add to that the compensations for all the other coaches they sacked and Kahn/Salihamidzic they must be close to 100 million for their sacked personal in the last 6 or 7 years alone. Could have picked up a good defensive midfielder and a full-back with that money.

A bit sad that Bochum is going down in all likelihood. Always liked their stadium. But if they lose to us in the last game even though nothing was at play for us anymore (and we always lose those games), it's hard to stay in the league. Great effort by Mainz. Seventh place in the second half of the season.

Actually, we were 4th or 5th in the standings since Bo Henriksen took over. And the schedule wasn‘t easy with away games at Bayern, at Leverkusen and at Leipzig. Unfortunately, we have no money to invest other than hopefully signing van den Berg.
If we had money to upgrade 2 or 3 positions (quality CB, LB and CM) I could even see us competing for European spots next year if we stay reasonably healthy and keep Gruda and Burkardt.

I am a bit sad for Bochum, too.
Been to Ruhrstadion this season for our away game.
Looks rather shabby outside but I like the flair.
Much better than some of the big stadiums.

Relegation will be a disaster for Bochum.
The roster is rather old and there is literally nobody that they can sell for more than a couple bucks. 5 mil. for Osterhage is the most they are going to get for anyone.
Half the roster will be gone and then you are stuck with the reserves who weren’t good enough for the first league and won’t be good enough to compete for promotion.
I bet we are not going to see them in the Bundesliga for a while if they indeed get relegated.

[Foye]

Kompany to Bayern done.
If this goes wrong heads are going to roll again in Munich.

[Foye]

Bochum leading 3-0 at Düsseldorf 75 minutes in.
Crazy.
Never thought they would have a chance at a comeback after losing 3:0 at home.

[Foye]

Bochum made it in penalties. Wow.

[-Luke-]

Incredible, losing 0-3 at home and still making it. I thought Bochum was dead. Very happy for them.

[Foye]

Fortunas team is most likely going to fall apart.
At least their top players will be looking for a move to the first league.

I‘d not be opposed to signing Tanaka or Tzolis for Mainz. Good players.
The issue being a lot of clubs probably want them and we don’t have much cash to work with.

[Foye]

Bayern now cancelling an almost done deal for Ouedraogo, one of the best U19 talents in Germany and going after Bruno Fernandes from ManU. Seems like a stupid decision.

[wco81]

They paid 25 Mio. for Nagelsmann and sacked him, now the 10 Mio. compensation for Tuchel and another big transfer fee for Kompany if they get him. Add to that the compensations for all the other coaches they sacked and Kahn/Salihamidzic they must be close to 100 million for their sacked personal in the last 6 or 7 years alone. Could have picked up a good defensive midfielder and a full-back with that money.

So this is the first year since 2011-12 that Bayern hasn't won the Bundesliga. That may be some kind of record, 12 or 13 consecutive seasons?

But they've cleaned house because of it?

Or is it not winning the UCL in several seasons, the last time in 2020?

I get that they have high expectations because they have more money than any other Bundesliga team. But do they spend like Real or City?

I watched the All or Nothing Documentary from a few seasons ago. Khan and the other guy in charge looked like geniuses at that time. They also had a couple of young German players well under 25 at the time. Seemed unimaginable that they'd ever lose the league at least, not sure about the CL.

[-Luke-]

They paid 25 Mio. for Nagelsmann and sacked him, now the 10 Mio. compensation for Tuchel and another big transfer fee for Kompany if they get him. Add to that the compensations for all the other coaches they sacked and Kahn/Salihamidzic they must be close to 100 million for their sacked personal in the last 6 or 7 years alone. Could have picked up a good defensive midfielder and a full-back with that money.

So this is the first year since 2011-12 that Bayern hasn't won the Bundesliga. That may be some kind of record, 12 or 13 consecutive seasons?

But they've cleaned house because of it?

Or is it not winning the UCL in several seasons, the last time in 2020?

I get that they have high expectations because they have more money than any other Bundesliga team. But do they spend like Real or City?

I watched the All or Nothing Documentary from a few seasons ago. Khan and the other guy in charge looked like geniuses at that time. They also had a couple of young German players well under 25 at the time. Seemed unimaginable that they'd ever lose the league at least, not sure about the CL.

Yes, they won the Bundesliga 11 times in a row. I think it's a record for the top 5 leagues, but I could be wrong. This year they had one point more than last year, but Leverkusen had an otherwordly season and CL was good.

I think their problems are:
- The squad is pretty unbalanced and thin. They have no real Defensive Midfielder. They tried the duo Kimmich/Goretzka there for a few years, but both are all over the pitch and constantly running around in the offense, leaving huge gaps between defense and midfield. They also are very thin on the defensive positions. Tuchel recognized and publicly named these problems and was made the scapegoat, even though the problems were obvious.

People in the club publicly raved about previous coaches like Guardiola and Heynckes, completely ignoring that they had world class players at every position (Robben, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Lewandowski, Thiago, Lahm, Boateng, Alaba, young Neuer, young Müller, ...). Who is world class now? Kane obviously, Musiala if he wants, Sané every fifth or sixth game (if he is not trotting across the pitch with his head and shoulders hanging down), de Ligt every now and then (if he isn't injured). That's about it. Davies was up there, but has regressed for a few years now, Neuer is old.

- The club environment is a public disaster. The club is called FC Hollywood in Germany for a reason. People like Hoeneß and Rummenigge no longer have any major functions in the club, but they are constantly interfering and bringing unrest to the club. It's obvious from their statements that they don't understand any more about football today than you or I do. Hoeneß completely torpedoed the coaching search by first publicly ridiculing the current coach and then calling Rangnick the third choice when Bayern was negotiating with him, after what Rangnick then thankfully rejected. More than ten people rejected them (Foye made a list in this thread) and Bayern became the laughing stock of Europe. Kompany now goes into this task with the burden that there are high expectations (Champions League final in their own stadium) and that he was about the 15th choice. You can only wish him the best of luck in this madhouse.

[Foye]

They paid 25 Mio. for Nagelsmann and sacked him, now the 10 Mio. compensation for Tuchel and another big transfer fee for Kompany if they get him. Add to that the compensations for all the other coaches they sacked and Kahn/Salihamidzic they must be close to 100 million for their sacked personal in the last 6 or 7 years alone. Could have picked up a good defensive midfielder and a full-back with that money.

So this is the first year since 2011-12 that Bayern hasn't won the Bundesliga. That may be some kind of record, 12 or 13 consecutive seasons?

But they've cleaned house because of it?

Or is it not winning the UCL in several seasons, the last time in 2020?

I get that they have high expectations because they have more money than any other Bundesliga team. But do they spend like Real or City?

I watched the All or Nothing Documentary from a few seasons ago. Khan and the other guy in charge looked like geniuses at that time. They also had a couple of young German players well under 25 at the time. Seemed unimaginable that they'd ever lose the league at least, not sure about the CL.

Yes, they won the Bundesliga 11 times in a row. I think it's a record for the top 5 leagues, but I could be wrong. This year they had one point more than last year, but Leverkusen had an otherwordly season and CL was good.

I think their problems are:
- The squad is pretty unbalanced and thin. They have no real Defensive Midfielder. They tried the duo Kimmich/Goretzka there for a few years, but both are all over the pitch and constantly running around in the offense, leaving huge gaps between defense and midfield. They also are very thin on the defensive positions. Tuchel recognized and publicly named these problems and was made the scapegoat, even though the problems were obvious.

People in the club publicly raved about previous coaches like Guardiola and Heynckes, completely ignoring that they had world class players at every position (Robben, Ribery, Schweinsteiger, Lewandowski, Thiago, Lahm, Boateng, Alaba, young Neuer, young Müller, ...). Who is world class now? Kane obviously, Musiala if he wants, Sané every fifth or sixth game (if he is not trotting across the pitch with his head and shoulders hanging down), de Ligt every now and then (if he isn't injured). That's about it. Davies was up there, but has regressed for a few years now, Neuer is old.

- The club environment is a public disaster. The club is called FC Hollywood in Germany for a reason. People like Hoeneß and Rummenigge no longer have any major functions in the club, but they are constantly interfering and bringing unrest to the club. It's obvious from their statements that they don't understand any more about football today than you or I do. Hoeneß completely torpedoed the coaching search by first publicly ridiculing the current coach and then calling Rangnick the third choice when Bayern was negotiating with him, after what Rangnick then thankfully rejected. More than ten people rejected them (Foye made a list in this thread) and Bayern became the laughing stock of Europe. Kompany now goes into this task with the burden that there are high expectations (Champions League final in their own stadium) and that he was about the 15th choice. You can only wish him the best of luck in this madhouse.

Add in that management is absolutely lost.

Finding excuses why it is too much money to spend for top talents like Ouedraogo or Gruda (well I am glad about that).
But then overspending for players who have maybe two years of prime left and are going to regress afterwards. They won no titles with Kane at his best. This was probably the best season they are going to get from him. Now they are interested in the likes of Tah and Palhinha again. Another two year rental of good but not absolute world class players.