Jürgen Klinsmann Sacked: Who Is to Blame?

It was a bright day in mid-July of 2008 when Jürgen Klinsmann was officially introduced as the head coach of Bayern Munich. He brought with him bright innovative methods that were taken up by Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Uli Hoeness for the development of the club.

The new training centre was complete with Buddha statues, relaxation areas, and even a library! The Germans were not happy with the changes, especially not the Bayern fans. However, nothing stops Jürgen Klinsmann. He went forward with the goal of improving each individual.

His first two matches saw Bayern lose the Super Cup to Borussia Dortmund and narrowly overcome third division side Rot-Weiss Erfurt 4-3 in the German Cup. As far as the Bundesliga is concerned, Bayern opened with a 2-2 draw against bogey team Hamburg in the Allianz Arena.

Bayern’s form was extremely topsy-turvy. They were 11th in the table at one point, but then went on an excellent unbeaten run which saw them climb to second behind Hoffenheim, only on goal difference.

Their form in the Champions League was outstanding. They won four times and drew twice to top their group. Miroslav Klose ended up as one of the top scorers with five goals, while Franck Ribery topped the assists list.

Bayern resumed their unbeaten run after the winter break with a 5-1 thrashing of Stuttgart in the German Cup. They, however, went down to Hamburg 1-0. They still thrashed Sporting Lisbon (12-1 on aggregate) to progress to the CL quarters.

However, that’s when things started to go wrong. Bayern kept on losing in the Bundesliga and could only get a point from the Weser in a game in which they played with a man advantage for 75 minutes.

I guess you all know about Wolfsburg, Barcelona, and Schalke.

This story has something missing, doesn’t it? How can a team which thrashes others be unable to score all of a sudden? How can a team’s defence all of a sudden concede nine goals within the space of two matches?

Well, the answer is injuries.

When Luca Toni got injured, nobody really cared. Forget Luca, we have Miro. Yes, Miroslav was scoring freely. He notched up goal after goal in each competition—until the tendons in his ankle gave way against Bochum. I said this before, and I am going to say it again—Luca Toni needs a hard-working supporting striker.

After Podolski and Sosa had covered for a few matches, Luca Toni came back to miss headers against Barcelona. Does anybody know the true story behind the loss against Barca? If they don’t, let me tell them.

Prior to the Barca game, we knew Miro Klose would be out. Daniel van Buyten then all of a sudden had to go on compassionate leave. Lucio was injured, and Lahm was carrying a minor injury.

Bayern were void of a central defender, and the only person who could fill in was 19-year-old Breno. With Lahm out, the only option was to play Christian Lell in that position and to put Massimo Oddo on the opposite wing. Up front, Luca Toni was, well, quite himself, busy putting headers wide.

Bayern’s defence had only one first choice player in the form of a rather out-of-form Martin Demichellis. Lell and Oddo are not first choices. Neither is Breno.

Bastian Schweinsteiger did Bayern no favours with his poor form. He was replaced by Hamit Altintop, who had just returned to first team action. The same applies for Michael Rensing, who was replaced by Hans-Jorg Butt.

You could argue that Klinsmann had no right to put in two players with hardly any match practice—but can you honestly blame the man?

The Bundesliga referees did him no favours by not awarding two clear penalties to his side.

Finally, his players, who he never ever blamed, did him no favours. Podolski always has Köln at the back of his mind. Toni was trying to convince Bayern to get Roberto Mancini, i.e. replace Klinsmann.

Toni can score against Bielefeld and Hoffenheim, but put him against Lyon and he will not be able to find the back of the net. So, who was he kidding?

Ribery, on the other hand, always has Barca at the back of his mind. He absolutely stopped caring about Bayern. Mark Van Bommel, to a certain extent, was against Klinsmann, the man who gave him the captain’s armband.

Finally come the fans. I watched my beloved Arsenal lose to Man United last night. One thing that impressed me about the United fans was their singing:

”Glory glory Man United, and the reds go marching on on on!”

Arsenal fans stand behind Arsene Wenger all the time, but Bayern fans are just like the club's hierarchy. They don’t get results—they want the coach kicked out! (I am an exception; at times I wanted Klinsmann to be axed, but in all truth, I was with him even after the Schalke loss.) The chants of “Klinsmann out” were extraordinary.

The funny thing is Bayern can still win the title with five matches to go. If you look at the season as a whole 'til now, Klinsmann did quite well. His team went to the quarterfinals of the German Cup and the CL, and are sitting third in the Bundesliga table, three points behind Wolfsburg.

Why on earth did the Bayern hierarchy hire Klinsmann in the first place, when they knew about his inexperience of coaching at club level?

All in all, the fans and some of the players are to blame for Klinsmann’s sacking—as well as the Bayern hierarchy. Halil Altintop’s goal ended Klinsmann’s reign, which lasted just 42 matches.

Even after such a disappointment, he only had good things to say about Bayern.

“Of course I’m disappointed at the moment. However, I’d like to thank, from my heart, FC Bayern Munich, the fans, the training staff, the players, and all the other workers for an eventful time.

“We have laid the foundations for the future. I still believe that this team will end up as Bundesliga champions this season."