Bundesliga
Julian Nagelsmann is an excellent coach, but he still needs experience for a top club. Which team would be ideal for a young coach?
Julian Nagelsmann did not even finish his second season at Bayern Munich, even though he is under contract with the Bavarian side until 2026. The management decided that the team’s performance was not what they wanted. Consistency is very important at a club like Bayern and the 35-year-old coach is not at that level yet! Which team would be ideal for a young coach now?
Julian Nagelsmann did not even finish his second season at Bayern Munich, even though he is under contract with the Bavarian side until 2026. The management decided that the team’s performance was not what they wanted. Consistency is very important at a club like Bayern and the 35-year-old coach is not at that level yet! Which team would be ideal for a young coach now?
A rapid rise at Hoffenheim
Back in early February 2016, Nagelsmann was still in charge of the U19s at Hoffenheim, only for the A-team to run into problems and so the management tried out the talented coach who was forced to retire due to injury back in 2008.
Hoffenheim had virtually nothing to lose at that time, but Nagelsmann was such a boost to the team that they won 7 league games out of 14, which helped them escape relegation to the second division. And then he took the team to the Top 4.
Yes, TSG mowed down one opponent after another in the 2016/17 season, drawing 1-1 with Bayern and beating them 1-0 at home in the spring. In the end, that was a 4th place finish. In the next league season, Hoffenheim also confirmed that the previous placing was not just a fluke and finished in 3rd place.
However, in the Champions League qualifiers at the start of the season, they ran into Liverpool, who were an insurmountable problem for them, and Nagelsmann’s boys headed to the Europa League, where they finished in the group stage.
The likable German coach was facing his last season on the Hoffenheim bench, in which he led his team to 9th place. In the Champions League, TSG finished last in the group, failing to match the pace of Manchester City, Shakhtar and Lyon.
It was long debated where Nagelsmann would head. Bayern Munich was also in the running. However, these emotions were tempered by Jupp Heynckes, who aptly noted that a young coach can make mistakes at Hoffenheim, but there is no room for it at Bayern and it is punished uncompromisingly, as he learned a few days ago.
Achievements at RB Leipzig
Leipzig was undoubtedly a great move for Nagelsmann. Full of young talent, plus participation in the Champions League. The perfect environment for the next step. And the young German coach took his chance with full vigour, leading RB Leipzig to third place in the Bundesliga and to the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they fell to PSG.
Leipzig were even better the following season. They finished second in the Bundesliga behind the once again sovereign Bayern, and in the Champions League in a group with PSG, Manchester United and Basaksehir, they advanced to the play-offs, where they again faced the then uncompromising Liverpool.
It was clear to all that for Nagelsmann, RB Leipzig was already small and needed to move on. That was when the Bavarian giant came in.
An impatient Bayern Munich
Nagelsmann dominated the Bundesliga quite clearly in his first season at Bayern, but was burnt out in the second round of the DFB-Pokal, in which he was ousted by a 5: 0 result by Mönchengladbach and out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Villarreal. It was certainly already hard to swallow for the Munich management.
This season, however, Bayern were virtually unstoppable with Nagelsmann, having lost only to Augsburg by the end of last year and going further in the group with Barcelona, Inter and Viktoria Plzen after winning all 6 matches.
In the new year he continued his run of form, at least in the Champions League where he won twice against PSG. But the Bavarian side started the new year with three 1-1 draws (RB Leipzig, Cologne and Frankfurt), followed by a loss to Mönchengladbach after two wins and a defeat to Leverkusen after three more.
Thanks to this, Borussia Dortmund, playing in great form, were one point ahead of Bayern in the league table and the management could not take it anymore and decided to sack the still very young coach.
Incomprehensible to some, but unacceptable to Bayern management…
A new club for Nagelsmann’s development?
In my opinion, the German coach may need a top league rather than a top club. In this respect, the Premier League could be really beneficial for him, where many excellent coaches are now working and more and more the best players in the world are heading to England.
This was clearly seen in the January transfer window when only Chelsea spent virtually the same amount as all the other top 4 leagues in Europe.
The Landsberg am Lech native would gain tremendous experience when he could compare himself match for match with the best. And there are practically two clubs in the game that could be suitable for Nagelsmann.
Ironically, he could be heading to Thomas Tuchel’s previous destination, having replaced him at Munich. Graham Potter is not doing well at Chelsea and there has been speculation in the English media about his departure for some time now.
Unless the Blues pick up and start picking up points on a regular basis, which they haven’t been doing at all recently, it is likely that the management will be forced to sack the English coach before he has completed one full season at Stamford Bridge.
In my opinion, Chelsea is the best place for Nagelsmann as it is a new team full of great talent. Exactly what the German coach knows how to work with, as he proved in the Bundesliga at Hoffenheim or RB Leipzig.
Another option could be Tottenham, where Antonio Conte has been solving big problems for some time now. Spurs, however, don’t exactly have the ideal team to suit Nagelsmann and he would probably be facing big changes. But in the Premier League, the money is…
However, this destination is currently the most likely one according to the latest news from English servers.
Another option could be PSG, who are certainly not thrilled with Christopher Galtier, who had to bow to Nagelsmann’s Bayern.
However, in my opinion, it would be a step backwards for the young coach, as he would be bored on the bench for most of the season and would only look out for Champions League matches, where the Parisian side have failed to live up to the expectations of their owners.
The Premier League is therefore a very interesting destination where Nagelsmann could compete with Guardiola, Klopp or the “young” English coach How (45 years old).
Source: Transfermarkt