Thomas Tuchel berated his Bayern Munich players with a withering statement after their 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, it has been revealed.
The Bayern boss is said to have ’caused a stir’ in the dressing room with his wounding words after the Saturday drubbing.
Bayern are five points behind Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen in the Bundesliga title race and seriously risk losing their 11-year streak of winning the league.
In an explosive statement, Tuchel told his players: ‘You’re not as good as I thought, then I just have to adapt to your level,’ according to Sky Germany.
Pressure is bubbling up at one of Europe’s biggest clubs after their Champions Legaue hopes were left hanging in the balance with a 1-0 loss at Lazio in the last 16 on Wednesday night.
Thomas Tuchel reportedly told his Bayern Munich players ‘you’re not as good as I thought’ after they lost to Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern’s prospects of silverware are slipping away after losses to Leverkusen and Lazio
Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg suggests that Tuchel must win at Bochum on Sunday.
While Bayern are not planning to sack him yet, the upcoming fixtures against Bochum, Leipzig and Freiburg, and the return leg against Lazio are pivotal to Tuchel’s future.
Kane has now received the lowest rating possible in Bild’s evaluation in back-to-back games, with tabloid Bild labelling his performance against Leverkusen a ‘catastrophe’.
Rio Ferdinand tore into an ‘ugly performance’ on TNT Sports and believes Bayern will struggle to emerge form their ‘rut’ before the second leg in March.
Jamie Carragher diagnosed them as a ‘team of individuals’ and thinks their chances of winning the Champions League have been shot by the result and performance.
Sky Germany pundit Marcel Reif said: ‘I think he puts himself above the team and a huge gap arises between himself and the team
‘In Rome I didn’t have the impression that the team was saying: “That really motivated me.”‘
Even through Champions League pain, Bayern have been able to rely on relentless form and dominance domestically – but that isn’t the case.
Harry Kane had a debut to forget in August as Bayern were beaten 3-0 in the German Super Cup by RB Leipzig.
Then, in November, they were stunned by Saarbrucken, crashing out of the DFB-Pokal to the third-tier side with a 2-1 loss.
Harry Kane has now received the lowest rating possible from Bild in back-to-back games
Tuchel must win the next game against Bochum and find results in coming fixtures or his future will be unstable, Sky Germany reports
A rift could be developing between Tuchel and his players, Sky Germany analyst Marcel Reif has suggested
Now five points behind an unbeaten Leverkusen, their chances of winning any silverware this season are receding.
It’s understandable for Tuchel to rant and want to motivate his players, but if there is a ‘rift’ as Reif suggests, it will be difficult to drag his players with him by deploying stinging words.
