Bayern Munich have identified Xabi Alonso as their ‘dream candidate’ to replace manager Thomas Tuchel as the team continue to struggle for form.
The German outfit’s season is falling apart after losing three successive games in the space of a week, the most recent of which was a shocking 3-2 turnover to Vfl Bochum.
That result leaves Bayern eight points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen in the title race and puts significant pressure on Tuchel’s position as head coach.
It seems inevitable that the former Chelsea boss will be sacked, it’s just a matter of when. According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, his job is safe for now and he’s not considering resigning either.
Bayern are apparently happy to ‘muddle through’ with Tuchel until the end of the season, claims The Athletic’s Raphael Honigstein, and hire a big name successor in the summer.
Alonso, a former Bayern midfielder, is cited as the obvious person to replace the beleaguered 50-year-old after bringing Leverkusen to the cusp of their first ever top flight title.
Update (12:17pm): The Athletic are no reporting that Bayern are actively “targeting a move for Xabi Alonso should Thomas Tuchel be sacked as head coach.”
Liverpool have been heavily linked with Alonso, who also played for the club during his career, after Jurgen Klopp announced his intention to step down as manager at the end of the season.
Hansi Flick has been ‘sounded out’ a possible short-term fix should they choose to fire Tuchel, although his recent failure with the German national team may count against him.
Sunday’s disastrous defeat to Bochum came on the back of losses to Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and Lazio in the Champions League, but Tuchel felt they deserved a better result from the weekend’s game.
“I don’t think today’s defeat was fair, I think a lot went against us today,” he said. “I think we had an xG value of 3.4 and we had four, five, six top-class chances.
“We completely dominated the game and actually went behind out of nowhere. We never stopped putting in the effort until the end and then played with a man down for a long time. A lot went against us today. I feel today’s defeat is different to the last two”
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