Uli Hoeness, former Bayern Munich president, has attacked Julian Nagelsmann’s stint at the club, but believes he should not have been fired when he was. Bayern fired the 35-year-old manager in March after a setback to Bayer Leverkusen dropped them to second place in the league with nine games remaining.
Despite reaching the Champions League quarterfinals by defeating Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern decided to part ways with Julian Nagelsmann. The 35-year-old however found out the club’s decision while on a controversial mid-season ski vacation, which is cited one of the reasons for his ousting.
‘Julian Nagelsmann’s relationship with BILD reporter anything but optimal for Bayern’ – Uli Hoeness
Hoeness, who is still on the Bavarian Giants’ supervisory board, has now spoken on Julian Nagelsmann’s resignation. Nagelsmann was replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who has struggled since returning to Germany. First, Manchester City knocked Bayern out of the Champions League, with forwards Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane fighting following a poor first-leg loss.
They also struggled domestically, losing to Freiburg in the DFB-Pokal and trying to keep pace with Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga. Finally it took a meltdown by Dortmund on the final day which handed Tuchel’s Bayern the Bundesliga title. However, groundwork of which was laid by Julian Nagelsmann didn’t even receive a medal for the Bavarians’ title.
Speaking of the young tactician’s sacking, Hoeness told BILD:
“I didn’t think it was good that Julian Nagelsmann went skiing at all in such a crisis situation after the 2-1 loss in Leverkusen, that should not have happened.”
Aside from a modest decline in results that endangered Bayern’s 11th straight Bundesliga title, Julian Nagelsmann’s tenure at Bayern was also distinguished by a romance with BILD reporter Lena Wurzenberger. According to reports at the time, the relationship caused a lack of trust among players, and Wurzenberger departed her position at the German newspaper shortly after Nagelsmann was fired. Hoeness said of the relationship:
“It’s a very personal issue and a private matter that has to be respected. But it is understandable that such a constellation is anything but optimal for a club.”
While the 71-year-old, who played over 300 games for Bayern and helped West Germany win the World Cup in 1974, agreed with the decision to fire Julian Nagelsmann, he believed the timing and lack of communication prior to the decision were incorrect. Hoeness said that ‘no one’ on the supervisory board was consulted regarding the manager’s future, and that sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic only approached them once a decision was taken.
Bayern fired the 35-year-old in March after a Bundesliga loss to Bayer Leverkusen, and the manner in which he was fired has since been condemned. The club seemed to alert media of his dismissal before informing Nagelsmann, with the manager’s agent Volker Struth confirming the same. Nagelsmann was in the running for becoming the next Chelsea boss, but pulled out of the race before the Blues confirmed Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment.