Bayern Munich are catching rejections from managers left and right. It all started when Xabi Alonso spurned Bayern to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, the new Bundesliga champions.
That wasn’t so bad, though, because Alonso also rejected the opportunity to replace Jurgen Klopp and another one of his former clubs in Liverpool.
Plus, besides coaching Leverkusen in the Champions League next season, Alonso may also have a long-term view on coaching Real Madrid with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Endrick, Vinicius Junior, and Kylian Mbappe.
It is one thing to be rejected by Alonso, but it is another to be rejected by Ralf Rangnick and Julen Lopetegui. It seems like every well-known manager is turning their back on Bayern Munich, perhaps scared off by how great managers like Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann, and Hansi Flick have been treated by the club’s key decision-makers.
Now, Max Eberl and Co. are having to scrape the bottom of the barrel, with Erik ten Hag seemingly a leading candidate to lead Die Roten into their next era.
Anyone leery about ten Hag as a coaching hire in Bavaria will be even more concerned with some of the other names linked to the Bayern Munich manager job set to be vacated by Tuchel.
According to a report from Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg and Kerry Hau, Bayern Munich are also showing interest in Ernesto Valverde and Stefan Kuntz.
Valverde is the more well-known of the two, especially as the club level. He was one of Barcelona’s many underwhelming coaches for years, though he’s at least achieved a strong record of success in LaLiga with Athletic Club.
Meanwhile, Stefan Kuntz is the former manager of the Turkish national team and has only coached small clubs in Germany. Whereas Valverde at least has experience at a club like Barcelona, Kuntz has never coached a team anywhere near the top.
Kuntz is reportedly drawing interest from Canada and Azerbaijan, suggesting he is going to another international post, and even at the international level, he isn’t exactly seen as a destination hire.
These are truly bizarre and thoroughly underwhelming names for Bayern Munich to consider as their manager. They are clearly several steps down from Flick, Nagelsmann, and Tuchel, leaving supporters scared and likely even more enraged at how the club has disrespected some of world football’s finest coaches.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.