By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- While Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness announced to present a new coach until Monday, gory details of the divorce of star coach Carlo Ancelotti and the Bavarian club are coming to light.
Speculations don't seem to end when it comes to the man who is supposed to follow Ancelotti or, as some assume, the one who is expected to clean up the mess caused by the 58-year-old Italian.
A wide range of assumptions and rumors dominate discussions about Ancelotti's successor. Is former Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel the right coach or is TSG Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann the better?
Does Bayern need new inspiration delivered by former Dutch defender Mark van Bommel, former Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, current OGC Nice coach Lucien Favre or former Munich professionals like Mehmet Scholl, current assistant coach Willy Sagnol or former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique?
According to reports, Bayern's club leaders such as Hoeness, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and sports-director Hasan Salihamidzic find themselves in endless discussions. Other newspapers report, Hoeness has already made a choice and asked former Bayern coach Pep Guardiola about his opinion. The Spaniard is said to be confident about Bayern's decision.
Considering that, Tuchel seems to be the hottest guess as he is regarded to be Guardiola's soulmate.
While wildest speculations regarding Bayern's new coach continue, the 15 months long period of Ancelotti is still causing trouble and emotional discussions.
Three times Champions League winner Ancelotti seems as calm as ever after his departure. "They can say what they want. I am too soft, we had not enough discipline, the season preparation was inadequate, and our tactics were wrong. I won't comment all of this. I follow the example of that Italian poet who decided to keep quiet and think about what happened," Ancelotti said.
Ancelotti replied to various comments of his former players and Bayern's club leaders.
Dutch striker Arjen Robben told a Munich based newspaper training of his nine-year-old son at a local club was more intense than Ancelotti's sessions with Bayern.
Several Munich professionals such as Robben, German national keeper Manuel Neuer and the German internationals Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng reported to Bayern's leaders Ancelotti's training was not intense enough. Several Bayern players took up individual training until Ancelotti got aware of the private practice and demanded to stop the additional work.
According to media reports, the Italian told his players too much training would contain the risk of new injuries.
Ancelotti announced to take a break until summer 2018. "I will take a break and rest. Until next summer I don't intend to coach a club," Ancelotti told Italian newspapers. Latest rumors spoke about the interest of AC Milan and an offer from China.
Bayern club leaders claim Ancelotti had lost the teams support and trust after cornerstones such as Robben, Franck Ribery, Hummels and Boateng were sidelined in the group game of the Champions league against Paris St Germain (0-3).
There was a latent unhappiness with the way the team has been playing this season, results aside. The Bavarians are currently miles away from the performance levels of recent times. And they're not quite a team, either.
Bayern mistakenly believed that Ancelotti's fabled man-management skills would offset the loss of structural cohesion on the pitch. Bayern's dressing room has not been this fraught with tension in years, and with every bad result, the cracks were deepening. Club officials feared things getting out of control.
Bayern's new coach won't have much time to get used to his squad as the Bavarian club is facing seven games in 22 days.
Meanwhile, statistics look poor for Ancelotti and the 2017 German champion. Only 14 points out of seven league games and seven received goals in seven games stand for the most miserable season start for seven years.
Bayern's success since 2009/10 has been based on collectivity, some tactical innovation, and commitment. Right now, none of these things are present. It will be the new coaches' great challenge to reanimate team and club.
