Kovac already in trouble at stuttering Bayern
Lack of creativity is to blame: Kimmich
BERLIN, Oct 9, (AFP): Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac is already under pressure after four matches without a win and he is acutely aware that the German champions are not a club that deals well with failure.
Kovac only took over at Bayern in the summer and was portrayed as a long-term leader after the venerable Jupp Heynckes had successfully steadied the ship for a season on a temporary basis after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked.
The 46-yearold’s reputation had risen after he won the German Cup with Eintracht Frankfurt in May, beating Bayern in the final.
But Bayern’s 3-0 home defeat to Borussia
Kovac
Moenchengladbach has left his team sixth in the table – the last time the club went winless in four matches in the first half of the season was 2009.
“Kovac in the eye of the storm,” Stern news weekly said on its website. In this file photo, Bayern Munich’s German defender Niklas Suele, Spanish midfielder Javi Martinez and German defender Joshua Kimmich react after the UEFA Champions League Group E football match between Bayern
Munich and Ajax Amsterdam in Munich, southern Germany, on Oct 2. (AFP)
Kovac had moved quickly on Friday to defuse criticism from his players, with Colombian striker James Rodriguez telling reporters that the new coach’s training sessions were insufficiently rigorous and his policy of rotating his team was angering some of the stars.
“We’re not at Frankfurt here,” Rodriguez jibed.
Kovac’s response then was to deny that he had lost his players’ support – but that was before the Moenchengladbach debacle.
Pressed on whether he still had
their backing now, Kovac said on Saturday: “I had their support after the first seven games (when Bayern were undefeated), so I assume I still have it.”
He added: “But in the end, I am not the one who can answer that.”
Bayern’s bosses Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge left the Allianz Arena without saying a word. A year ago, the powerful duo removed Ancelotti from his job after Bayern lost 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Even if they decide that Kovac has
no future with the club, their options seem limited – finding a top-class coach at this time of the year is nearimpossible and Heynckes has made clear he would not return again.
Bayern’s winless run is all the more curious because it has come against teams they be would be expected to beat – Augsburg, Hertha Berlin, Dutch side Ajax and Moenchengladbach.
Right-back Joshua Kimmich said a lack of creativity was to blame: “The defence is not a major problem. Against Moenchengladbach we hardly created a single chance.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have won all but one league title between them in the last 14 seasons, with Atletico Madrid winning in the 2013-14 season.
But after eight games in the 2018-19 season, Pablo Machin’s Sevilla lead Barcelona by one point at the top of the table with Real at fourth place, a further point adrift.
“I don’t know why but this season is more competitive,” Pires told Reuters in an interview.