Julian goes skiing and gets fired while he’s on holiday

Julian goes skiing and gets fired while he’s on holiday

Given their supremacy over the years, Bayern Munich have many detractors.

The Bundesliga champions have been so dominant that when they do suffer a setback or a crisis, they are quick to be derided. That is certainly the case this week as they wait to take on Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s potential Bundesliga title decider. The surprise coaching switch in Munch is being dubbed “FC Hollywood” and it is something of a show.

Manager Julian Nagelsmann went away on a short skiing vacation during the international window and found himself fired following an away defeat in their last game at Bayer Leverkusen. That saw Bayern give up the lead to arch-rivals Dortmund for the first time in more than three years.

It was a poor performance from Bayern to be sure, but slipping off the top of the table by a point cannot be termed a crisis - except if you are the German giants.

"This is not what Bayern stands for," said technical director Hasan Salihamidzic, one of those who took the decision to fire Nagelsmann. “We were second to them on all fronts. I have rarely experienced so little drive, so little mentality, so little perseverance and so little power.”

Bayern is a club unlike any other. What makes the job in Munich more difficult is that they are not satisfied with just winning the Bundesliga. The club and fans demand more than that - both in Champions League and the way they play.

This season, Nagelsmann was unable to remove the question marks over his suitably. They had won two championships under him, but he had not succeeded in making Bayern a well-oiled machine.

The beginning of the end for Nagelsmann probably started last September - and not in Munich, but rather in London where Chelsea got rid of Thomas Tuchel after a poor opening to the season. Bayern approached Tuchel to be their coach in 2018, but he turned them down to go to Paris St Germain. Now, Bayern have got their man and it is going to be fascinating to see whether he can succeed.