Lothar Matthäus criticized Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel’s personnel policy after FC Bayern Munich’s surprising 0-1 defeat against Werder Bremen.
“If Goretzka is missing – like against Bremen – the hierarchy gets mixed up,” wrote the record-breaking national team player in his column for the pay-TV channel Sky. Tuchel only substituted Leon Goretzka and Thomas Müller against Bremen in the 64th minute and replaced Joshua Kimmich at the same time – much to Matthäus’ displeasure.
“Can Goretzka take responsibility when he comes off the bench? Can Kimmich lead the team when he has been publicly counted on? Thomas Müller is actually always at the top of the hierarchy, but can he still do that when he’s just coming on as a substitute? ” wrote the 1990 world champion.
Criticism also of communication
Matthäus also criticized Tuchel’s communication: “We should discuss things more clearly internally and not talk so much in public, but that’s how Tuchel weakens his strong players, his mentality players like Kimmich and Goretzka.” After the 1-0 defeat, the Bayern coach described his team’s performance as “inconsequential” and “sloppy”.
“If a coach stands up after a defeat and only looks for the blame on the players, as Thomas Tuchel did after the 0-1 defeat against Werder Bremen, then that is quite a slap in the face for the players,” explained Matthäus. “I think as a coach you can question yourself sometimes, but I didn’t hear anything about that from Thomas on Sunday.”
