Bayern defeat at Lazio in the Champions League: The desperate

Enlarge image

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel: “Individual mistakes cost us a lot of trust”

Photo:

Alberto Lingria / REUTERS

Thomas Tuchel shakes his head, then buries his face in both hands for a few seconds, as if he couldn't believe the mistakes his team was making. As if he didn't think the level shown was possible.

The scene that the TV cameras captured in FC Bayern Munich's game at Lazio Rome after a loss of the ball in the build-up to the game was very present late on Tuesday evening after the 1-0 defeat in the Roman Olympic Stadium. Reporters talked about it and asked FC Bayern officials and players about it. Because it seemed to show Tuchel's desperation about the sometimes outrageous deficiencies in the Munich game. It is quite possible that this picture will become a symbol of Tuchel's time at FC Bayern.

After the first leg defeat at Lazio in the Champions League, progress is in acute danger. In the second leg in Munich at the beginning of March, Bayern need a win by two goals to advance. But because they seem more insecure than they have in a long time, little can be ruled out at the moment. Neither that Bayern actually fail in the round of 16, nor that they have their first titleless season in twelve years. And the question of how long Tuchel will be Bayern coach is also difficult to answer.

Sports director Christoph Freund, leading player Thomas Müller and Tuchel himself tried not to fuel a coaching discussion in the evening. Freund, who has a good relationship with Tuchel that is characterized by mutual appreciation, spoke of a “difficult phase” that the club was going through, but also emphasized that the coach and team were working hard and that everyone was in the same boat.

"We have problems. This cannot be argued away."

“You are welcome to have these coaching discussions,” said Müller and made it clear that he did not want to take part in them: “We work every day to overturn the problem, including us players and the coach.”

But Müller also said: “We have problems. That cannot be explained away." And that he wanted "the team and players to not only gain their self-confidence from daily actions, but also to have a basic trust in their own abilities."

The basic trust is gone. The FC Bayern players are currently a collection of highly insecure footballers. The question is what part Tuchel has in this and whether he will be able to dispel this uncertainty as quickly as possible.

To do this, Tuchel would do well to dispel the impression of his own desperation. What he failed against Lazio more than once.

A few minutes after that head shake, Tuchel erupted like a volcano. He shouted onto the field and tried to urge his players forward, waving his arms to push them forward. His team played too defensively and too timidly; they had lost their line at the beginning of the second half. But right-back Noussair Mazraoui only trotted towards the opponent's half. Bayern's midfielders also appeared hesitant. As if their coach had asked them to walk barefoot over hot coals.

And then things got even worse.

“Too wild,” said Tuchel. »There is no need to make this movement. It's enough if he blocks it." The coach spoke on DAZN about the scene that led to the 0-1. Bayern's Dayot Upamecano stepped on Lazio's attacker Gustav Isaksen's foot so hard while trying to clear the ball that not only did the Italians receive a penalty, but also a red card for the 25-year-old defender.

Of all people, Upamecano. Last year, the Frenchman wasted the ball before conceding a goal in Bayern's quarter-final exit in the premier class in the first leg against Manchester City. In the second leg he caused a hand penalty and slipped before the score was 0-1. Someone close to the Bayern dressing room later said about Upamecano that he made more mistakes against City than other top defenders in an entire season. The question of how suitable this Munich squad actually is has been lingering throughout the entire season.

“A lot of things are just very difficult at the moment.”

Individual mistakes, the many ball losses, the lack of composure in finishing and, above all, the massive drop in performance after the break make the Munich team currently look like a team that is in a relegation battle.

“A lot of things are just very difficult at the moment,” said captain Manuel Neuer. The team now needs a sense of success, “we need positive moments.” “The individual mistakes cost us a lot of trust,” said Tuchel.

Critics of the coach accuse him of having contributed to the loss of trust. For example, through tactical experiments in the lost Bundesliga top game in Leverkusen on Saturday (0:3). Or by putting some of Munich's leading players on the bench instead of strengthening them. Leon Goretzka, for example, and most recently Joshua Kimmich.

Tuchel wanted to sign a new defensive midfielder last summer, the territory of Kimmich and Goretzka. It's no secret that he sees deficits in both players. Now coaches and players have to get along, they have to form a community of purpose for success. At the moment it doesn't look like this will succeed.

Against Lazio, Tuchel tried to play it safe when it came to positioning and formation. That meant a return to the usual back four, Kimmich back in the team instead of talented Aleksandar Pavlovic, no trained right-back on the left wing. The return to the tried and tested as a security anchor for the team.

However, that only worked in the first half. After that, the team lost track even without any significant outside intervention. It created problems for itself where there actually weren't any. Bayern had Lazio under control for 45 minutes. The Romans, seventh in the Italian Serie A, 23 points behind leaders Inter, are certainly not a top team. Bayern are now threatened with elimination against this team.

Shortly before Christmas, when the Munich team had just played their last game of 2023 and won with some difficulty 2-1 in Wolfsburg, Tuchel was asked what the biggest progress the team had made under him was. "Our resilience has increased significantly," Tuchel replied, adding that the team is now able to "get through bad phases."

Barely two months later, even quiet phases are no longer enough to get through a game.