The Carlo Ancelotti Era at Bayern Munich was not exactly one to remember.
In his first season, the team won convincingly in the Bundesliga, but suffered a frustrating end to its Champions League season at the hands
of Atlético Madrid. There were clearly cracks in the foundation of what Ancelotti was trying to building.
In the second season, things shifted into dumpster fire mode. Per reports at the time, there was a lack of discipline, a lack of of order, and an overall lack of professionalism among both players and coaches.
In his new biography, Ancelotti recalled the period and how difficult it was for him to navigate at Säbener Straße (as captured by Bild via @iMiaSanMia):
“We outpaced the competition in the Bundesliga that season, finishing 15 points ahead, five points more than Pep had put between his team and second place in the previous two seasons. However, Bayern didn’t consider that a success. It was the least they had expected.
Whenever things got heated in the media, I noticed a big difference in this job. What was completely new for me was working at a club that wasn’t governed by a single, charismatic owner. Instead, there was a heterogeneous group of shareholders, while legendary former players traditionally held sway at the club’s management level. In the middle of the season, there was a change in the presidency when Uli Hoeneß took over. The chairman of the board was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was playing for Inter at the same time I was playing for AS Roma. Did I possibly kick my future boss when I was playing against him? Of course I did. It was my job, after all.
So I had to report to several important people at once. It was difficult for me to see who had more power, and after I’d been there for a few weeks, I even took Philipp Lahm aside and asked him for his opinion. But as always, I did my best to maintain my independence.
Once, the bosses asked me to instill more discipline among the players and gave me a list of five points to read out to them. However, I felt that we were working with a top-class professional team, not a youth team, so the players should be treated accordingly. So I stood in front of the team in the dressing room, pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket, and said, ‘I have orders from the board to read this list to you,’ – That was my way of distancing myself from this task.
Then, at the end of September, we went to another of my former clubs. Against Paris Saint-Germain, I decided to bench our aging wingers and let our defenders push further forward, while we focused mainly on attacks through the middle. It was a mistake. The balance was off, and they were able to disrupt us with their counterattacks. They scored their first goal in the second minute. The final score of 3-0 was Bayern’s heaviest defeat in the competition in 21 years.
The day after the game, the club’s board met and concluded that I was the problem. ‘Our team’s performance since the start of the season hasn’t lived up to the expectations we had of them,‘ Rummenigge said. The game in Paris clearly showed that we had to take action.
I’ve been sacked four times by major clubs: Juventus, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich . This goes to show that it doesn’t take an erratic president or unpredictable owner to get you fired. Shareholders of a company can do that, too.
It was the most ruthless dismissal of my entire career. After my departure, they reached the Champions League semifinals and were eliminated by – guess who – Real Madrid.“
Undoubtedly, this is just Ancelotti’s view, but there were also reported issues with his hirings for his coaching staff and the players he requested the club to get. In short, not a lot really worked on a long-term basis. None of that means that Ancelotti was a bad coach, but he was the wrong man at the absolutely wrong time for Bayern Munich.
The Post Pep hangover was real and managing a team in the midst of a generational transition was very difficult. Simply put, hiring Ancelotti was a nice idea, but it did not work.
Bayern Munich will host Werder Bremen in a Bundesliga match that — on paper — looks a little lopsided.
Okay, a lot lopsided.
The Bavarians are scorching hot and Werder Bremen has a slew of injuries, which makes for what could be a very tough challenge against a Bayern Munich team than can just wear down the opposition.
Let’s get into it — this is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:
- What to watch for with Werder Bremen. Die Werderaner are banged up, but does still have some talent. Will it be enough to shock Bayern Munich? We doubt it.
- A look at Bayern Munich’s injury situation.
- A guess at Bayern Munich’s starting XI.
- A prediction on the match.
Also, be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
