What future for Bayern Munich?
Their immediate future will not concern Xabi Alonso. With Thomas Tuchel set to leave Sabener Strasse at the end of the season, Alonso, who is set to take Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was the favorite to succeed him.
This is no longer the case. Alonso confirmed in a press conference on Friday that he will stay at Leverkusen for at least a year. However this season ends, he considers his work incomplete.
So what does this mean for Bayern?
Antonio Conte and José Mourinho are not taken into consideration; Bayern don’t want any friction. Jurgen Klopp, tired and post-Liverpool, is not part of the conversation. Sebastian Hoeness has signed a contract extension with Stuttgart. And Julian Nagelsmann is considering the European Championship with Germany. Unlike previous eras with Jupp Heynckes and Hansi Flick, Bayern cannot bring in an experienced statesman to take on this role either.
It appears there are only two candidates – and questions that need to be answered as to why Alonso wasn’t an option.
First of all, why did Alonso decide to stay at Leverkusen?
The assumption was that Alonso would leave Leverkusen after they won the Bundesliga this season. With eight matches remaining, his side are 10 points clear of Bayern – and he wasn’t just being linked with the German giants. His former club Liverpool are also in need of a new manager following Klopp’s departure.
With either club offering an elite option to any promising manager, it came as a surprise when, on Thursday night, it emerged that Liverpool knew Alonso would stay at Leverkusen – and had moved on to other targets.
This is something Alonso confirmed on Friday. “My job is not here (in Leverkusen),” Alonso said. “Putting everything together, I made this important decision. I’m convinced it’s the right one.
“This is my first full season as a manager. I still have a lot to prove and experience. Right now I’m in a place where I feel really stable and happy.
It’s understandable. Leverkusen are not expecting many departures this summer and Alonso will have the chance to take a young, stable and very talented team to the Champions League. Alonso also enjoys a harmonious relationship with Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes, the club’s CEO and director of the sport’s board of directors, respectively.
Such tranquility in football is rare, so it’s no wonder he described Leverkusen as the “perfect place” for him and feels unable to move away from their unrealized potential.
Alonso might have managed Real Sociedad B before joining Leverkusen in October 2022, but this is still his first season in the top flight as head coach. “At the moment it is the right place to develop myself as a coach, I am a young coach,” Alonso added on Friday. “I have to thank the management. The club has given me their support and I feel respected by all departments.
Return to Bayern: why is Ralf Rangnick an option?
Given his short and unhappy stay at Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick could be a surprise inclusion. But those six months in England are less relevant than his influence on the Austrian national team.
His time at Old Trafford was limited, with Rangnick serving as little more than an interim head coach with no say in the make-up of the team. At Bayern, his situation would be the opposite, which would be part of the appeal of Bayern and Rangnick. Rangnick’s work in qualifying Austria for the European Championship was broader and more holistic than his time at United.
Rangnick has his team playing much more daring and attacking football than his predecessor, Franco Foda, and has built a harmonious environment. Around her, the atmosphere has improved considerably. Austria’s matches were played across the country, with Rapid Vienna not allowing them to play at their stadium. Rangnick wanted to use smaller venues for smaller qualifiers that would have a better chance of selling out, which is why they play Linz regularly. This led to stronger participation during the run-up to Euro 2024 and emotional buy-in from the public.
The scale of this influence corresponds to the scale of Bayern’s task. It is an understatement to say that the current team has reached the end of its cycle. Alphonso Davies’ future is unclear. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka will also have uncertain roles next season. Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller are in the twilight of their careers. Solving these problems will involve technical and recruiting challenges, yes, but also social ones: these are not just important players, but large and powerful personalities who must be managed with care.
Bayern has already prepared. Christoph Freund was appointed sporting director in 2023. Max Eberl followed as a member of the sports board at the start of 2024. These roles have yet to be fully defined and it is still unclear what influence Bayern seniors Uli Hoeness and Karl have -Heinz Rummenigge, will have. to have. But notably, Freund was previously sporting director at Red Bull Salzburg, working within the system designed by Rangnick.
It’s a practical straight line. Of course, it’s not as simple as simply aligning people with the same technical beliefs. Nevertheless, it is believed that Freund and Rangnick get along well and that it would at least make sense to unite them.
And harmony is important at Bayern. In recent seasons, there has been a disconnect between the coaches and the players in the locker room. The lack of permanence certainly contributed to this. Since the departure of Pep Guardiola in 2016, the club has had six full-time coaches, each working for around 18 months each.
The result was a blurring of tactical identity and an unnecessary reshuffling of team composition. The bond between players and coaches has also often deteriorated, and this is something the club would no doubt like to change. Bayern want a strong, unified dressing room – and neither Nagelsmann nor Tuchel have been able to provide it.
Can Rangnick? It’s not clear. But given the seriousness he continues to enjoy in German football and the scale of his potential impact, on and off the pitch, he could be as good an option as there is at this point in history from Bayern.
Could Roberto De Zerbi be considered?
De Zerbi is a fascinating option for Bayern.
Amplifying their daring football with Bayern’s talent is a compelling prospect. Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane; who would be not you want to watch this trio in his system?
But what probably intrigues Bayern is De Zerbi’s record of building confidence and developing young players at Brighton. One of the broader goals this next appointment will need to address is the lack of coaching longevity; they want to put someone in place for three, maybe five years. Partly for stability reasons, but also because it would coincide with the rise of extremely talented players.
Aleksandar Pavlovic is the kind of forward midfielder De Zerbi would rely on. The returning Josip Stanisic (loaned to Leverkusen) has an offensive ambition with the ball which would also suit him.
Further down the line, the club has a group of highly technical ball players in its academy who might as well have been trained specifically for a manager with De Zerbi’s fast and precise attacking style. Lovro Zvonarek and Javier Fernandez are two craftsman midfielders. Matteo Vinlof is a smooth, smooth left-back. Adam Aznou can play anywhere on the left side and is already training regularly with the senior team.
It will be quite a legacy. But De Zerbi’s candidacy is curious, because Bayern is a deeply political club, and the Italian does not seem suited to that: to the interference that can come from outside and from above, and to the media attention incessant.
For those outside of Germany, the attention Bayern attracts is roughly equivalent to that Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal receive in England. Combined. It is the most popular and successful club in a country dominated by a single sport. Bayern are the main news every day of the year, in a way that might not suit the personality of a manager who has been volatile at a club the size of Brighton.
But perhaps the biggest fault against De Zerbi is that he is only a head coach while the club is looking for someone capable of a wider mandate. Bayern are looking for more than just tactics and training. They need vision and direction, executive finesse and political savvy. De Zerbi probably doesn’t have the necessary dimensions for this kind of work.
(Top photos: Getty Images)