Former Bayern Munich captain Lothar Mathäus slams his former club’s decision to sack young coach Julian Nagelsmann while speaking at the German Embassy’s Sundowner held in his honor at the German Ambassador’s residence in Accra, Ghana.
The defending Bundesliga champions announced the sacking of Julian Nagelsmann on March 24. A decision considered by many football pundits to be ruthless.
The 35-year-old had led the Bavarian giants to the Bundesliga title in his first season as head coach of the club and was above rivals Borussia Dortmund on the league log with just a point at the time he lost his job.
It was revealed by a German news outlet, ‘Bild’, that up to six players in the dressing room had serious issues with the charismatic coach. Manuel Neuer, Sven Ulriech, and Joao Cancelo were believed to be among those six players.
The 1990 FIFA World Cup winner, Lothar Mathäus, however, opined that the sacking of the young coach was a mistake that resulted in the team getting knocked out of cup competitions.
He said, “Julian Naggaelsman is a young coach. He can make mistakes. He made mistakes, but he needed support from the CEO of the club and the sporting director of the club. Sometimes they left him to stay alone, and this I think was the biggest mistake by Munich two months ago when they changed the coach and you see the results, they kissed the Champions League and German Cup goodbye.”
Bayern Munich is in second place on the Bundesliga table, two points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund.