Niko Kovac, former manager of Bayern Munich. /VCG Photo
Bayern's 4-0 big win over Borussia Dortmund at home on November 9 gave the club more confidence in the interim manager Hansi Flick. On the other hand, it seemed to have proved that firing Niko Kovac was the right decision to make. Moreover, the comments of Bayern's president Uli Hoeness after the victory served both purposes.
"One thing is clear: after such an outstanding week, with two convincing wins, you cannot say that we're going to send Hansi Flick away and get someone who might only be able to work for a few months. There have certainly been currents within the team that wanted Kovac gone, that's why the leadership reacted accordingly," said Hoeness to ZDF Sport Studio.
Thomas Muller of Bayern Munich. /VCG Photo
It's not very difficult to guess which players have beef with the 48-year-old Croatian. Thomas Muller could be the first. As Bayern's icon, he was put on the bench by Kovac and once hinted that he would not mind leaving. During that time, there were quite a lot of reports about Manchester United and Inter Milan interested in landing the 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner.
Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels may not be fans of Kovac, either. Kovac made 24-year-old Niklas Sule the leading back over the two world champions. As a result, Hummels returned to Dortmund, but Boateng failed to leave.
Uli Hoeness (L), president, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the Executive Board of Bayern Munich. /VCG Photo
Compared with other heavyweight clubs in Europe, Bayern have one essential feature: managers don't have enough power. There are accomplished veterans who need to be appeased and "suggestions" from the head office that must be taken seriously. Kovac wanted Luka Jovic and Ante Rebic, but the club instead introduced Perisic and Philippe Coutinho at the last minute.
Of course, this does not mean that Kovac did everything right. Bayern sent a clear message in recent years that they wanted to change so the club can catch up with today's football trend. They hired Kovac because they believed that he could bring something new to the club. Nonetheless, Bayern's biggest change since he took over was that the team lost their game style, which's why their games were often very difficult. They always had to rely on the individual performance of Robert Lewandowski to win.