"He asked if he could speak German": Uli Hoeneß reveals incredible stories about Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich

“He once asked Stanisic if he could speak German, even though he was born here,” said the club chairman, emphasising: “These are all the sort of things that just aren’t on. And that’s the big difference.” 

Although Stanisic represents Croatia internationally, he was born in Munich and could have played for Germany. 

Stanisic has been under contract at Bayern since 2017, having joined from local youth clubs. Under Tuchel he barely featured and was loaned to Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2023. At Leverkusen he won the league title, ending Bayern’s 11-year domestic reign.

Stanisic subsequently returned to Bayern, while Tuchel was replaced by Vincent Kompany. Since this season, he has become a key component of the Belgian’s squad. When asked about the difference compared to his predecessors, Hoeneß said: “Two things are important. This manager makes every player better. And I’ve never seen him hold a press conference where he’s said: ‘I need a left-back, I need a right-back,’ as was the case under Tuchel.”

Hoeneß vividly recalls Tuchel’s public comments. “When the team underperformed, he never questioned himself; it was always the players’ fault: ‘That right-back doesn’t work, and Kimmich isn’t a very good player either,’” the 74-year-old recalled, before adding, “And with (Ryan) Gravenberch, now at Liverpool: ‘I can’t use him at all.’”

Tuchel had often complained that his squad lacked a “holding six”, and his preferred target, Joao Palhinha, only arrived in Munich after the coach’s departure. A previous move for the Portugal international had collapsed at the final hurdle because his then-club, Fulham, could not secure a replacement. Under Kompany, however, the Portuguese never progressed beyond a reserve role and was subsequently loaned to Tottenham Hotspur; it remains to be seen whether the Spurs will exercise their purchase option and remove the Tuchel holdover from Bayern’s books. 

Tuchel had replaced Julian Nagelsmann in March 2023, yet his tenure ended after just one full season. A lengthy successor search followed, prompting a brief rethink about retaining Tuchel among the board; ultimately, however, the coach himself chose to leave. After several rejections, sporting director Max Eberl finally appointed Kompany—a move that, as we know, proved inspired. 

This is not the first time Hoeneß has taken a dig at Tuchel. “On a personal level, our relationship was fine until the end. But in many areas, he simply has a very different view of how to manage a team,” Hoeneß told t-online.

Furthermore, Tuchel had pushed for “a relatively large number of transfers”, Hoeneß noted, echoing his chat with Söder: “We, on the other hand, wanted to work with more of our own players in the medium term. When I think of how many expensive players were constantly being demanded. Every time we had an injured player, there were calls for new players. It was a constant discussion about players.” He added that he had “never heard” of any such demands from Kompany.