Thomas Tuchel is struggling with the situation of Thomas Müller, who had to leave the training camp at Tegernsee prematurely – and is also questionable for FC Bayern Munich’s preparatory trip to Asia.
“It’s extremely unfortunate. He’s sad about it, so are we,” said Tuchel at a media round on Thursday. With Müller’s participation in the Asian giant, which starts on Monday, it will be “tight”: “We are considering whether it makes sense to take him with us and build him up there. Or whether we have more opportunities in Munich to build him up so that he can start full team training in Asia.” The 33-year-old suffers from muscular problems in his left hip.
The situation is identical for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who is also ailing. “Like Thomas, the next few days will show whether it makes sense for him to go to Asia,” said Tuchel. Choupo-Moting was injured in Tuesday’s 27-0 friendly win against FC Rottach-Egern and has knee pain.
Tuchel is satisfied with the two newcomers Raphael Guerreiro and Konrad Laimer: “I knew Rapha. He confirms my impression. Konny had a very good first week. That’ll be all. Very good players, very good guys.” Min-Jae Kim will now be “introduced individually”.
Thomas Tuchel on Kyle Walker, Manchester City and Uli Hoeneß
When asked about FC Bayern’s courtship of Kyle Walker from Manchester City, Tuchel did not want to give “a water level report”. The 33-year-old defender is said to have already informed his current coach Pep Guardiola of his desire to change. FC Bayern will meet City in a test match during the Asia trip.
The reigning Champions League winner, emphasized Tuchel, was “the benchmark” for him when it came to the style of play. When asked about Uli Hoeneß’s statement that one could no longer play with the ball as Pep Guardiola once celebrated, he said: “City played the Champions League final with five central defenders, the trend is clear – Pep is currently playing the most intensive football in Europe.”
Reducing City team manager Guardiola to passes or technical play “doesn’t do him justice,” emphasized Tuchel. “But I know what Uli means – and he’s not entirely wrong. If you see our willingness (in training), we have to get to the root of why we can’t bring that into play.” At the end of last season, “there was a lack of toxicity, that’s undisputed, we’re trying to stop that”.
Uli Hoeneß was once again on site at the training session on Thursday. “It’s good when he’s there and sees how we work and gets a feeling for the team and the coaching staff,” said Tuchel.
