FC Bayern legend Mehmet Scholl criticizes TV experts

Bundesliga

The crisis at FC Bayern is omnipresent. After the dismissal of coach Julian Nagelsmann, the team was first knocked out of the DFB Cup, then out of the Champions League and lost their lead in the Bundesliga last weekend. For the first time in ten years, Bayern have five games to go to become German champions.

The sometimes very severe criticism currently not only refers to the inconsistent performances of the stars on the pitch, but also to the Bayern bosses around President Herbert Hainer, CEO Oliver Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidžić.

Ex-Bayern star Mehmet Scholl, who played for the German record champions for 15 years, also commented on the crisis at his ex-club in the podcast “Einfach mal Luppen” by Toni Kroos and his brother Felixbut very different from, for example, the Sky experts Lothar Matthäus or Dietmar Hamann.

Mehmet Scholl played for Bayern Munich for 15 years. Image: dpa / Tobias Hase

FC Bayern in crisis: Scholl teases TV experts

Scholl was still enthusiastic about the 4:2 victory on the debut of new coach Thomas Tuchel over Borussia Dortmund. There he saw a Bayern team that played well, was well structured and physically present. But then the team could only win one of six games.

“You get the feeling that the first real hurricane came with three slaps in a row. A team with a good structure actually recovers from that.” But exactly this would be missing at the moment.

“There is a lack of clarity as to who is doing what. Who can be creative?“, says Scholl. Even for Toni Kroos, who has looked at Munich’s past games, “it’s obvious that something isn’t working.” There are current developments that you wouldn’t know from Munich – such as the playful 1 :0 lead in the 1:3 defeat against Mainz 05 last weekend.

However, Scholl cannot understand that the team and those responsible have been attacked violently for weeks by numerous ex-players who are now working as experts.

“We former players must not all pretend that we have only ever won or that we have not had such phases. Bayern is second, two titles gone and they still have a shot at third. Imagine that a team becomes champion and there is talk of a messed-up season.” According to Scholl, there are phases like this every few years. In his 15 years in Munich, he became German champion eight times.

“I see that the players feel comfortable and want to,” observed Scholl. Much more important for him is the mix of creative players, leaders and normal players on the pitch. “There’s a real mess there. Everyone wants, but nobody can give orders anymore. The team falls apart with every pressure.” And you can’t compensate for that with tactics. “Where’s the axis?” Scholl asks.

FC Bayern: Scholl protect Hasan Salihamidžići

Sport director Hasan Salihamidžić is also responsible for the fact that this is currently not visible. After the departure of leading players such as Robert Lewandowski, David Alaba or Thiago, he was unable to find a suitable replacement in recent years.

He only found conciliatory words with the sports director, with whom Scholl became German champion, cup winner and 2001 Champions League winner several times. “He’s doing a good job,” he summed up, praising him as a “zealous and committed” person. “I just see how he presents himself, look at the transfers and he’s doing a good job. He’s doing it totally authentically and for who he is.”

Hasan Salihamidžić (left) and Oliver Kahn are under a lot of pressure at FC Bayern.Image: imago / Michael Weber

Scholl admits that overall he has too little contact with FC Bayern or the players to explain what went wrong in the past.

When asked about the criticism of his other former teammate Oliver Kahn, however, he couldn’t say much. “With Olli, I can’t judge at all what he does because I have no insight into the work of a CEO.”

As a club as a whole, it would now be about bringing in structure, distributing tasks and bringing back joy. “Then Bayern will be at the top again,” Scholl is certain.