Sports Weekly All-media reporter Huang Sijun
After the winter break of three consecutive players - Lucas Hernades (cruciate ligament rupture), Neuer (calf fracture) and Mazraoui (pericarditis), and as a result, two unplanned signings, Daly Blind and Zormer, the Bundesliga began to perform poorly at the start of the second half, drawing 1-1 with RB Leipzig and Cologne, and it was not until 90 minutes that Kimmich's world wave was a thrilling equaliser, Bayern's harsh winter is not over. Between the two matches, this "eventful winter" culminated again: Tony Tapalovich, the goalkeeper coach who was publicly complained about by Niber, who had just been loaned to Monaco on Saturday night, was suddenly sacked on Monday night, ending an 11-and-a-half-year Bayern career. Compared with Neuer himself breaking his right calf while skiing on vacation more than a month ago, the departure of "close friend" Tapalovich may really mean that the "Neuer era" is coming to an end.
The 42-year-old Tapalovic was abruptly sacked by Bayern.
The founder of the "worldly gate" and "gatekeeper"
Tapalović, 42, is of Croatian descent born in Gelsenkirchen and has an older brother, Filip. Filip Tapalovic played 138 Bundesliga games for Bochum, Schalke 04 and Munich 1860, and also made three appearances for the Croatian national team. However, Tony, who is a goalkeeper, only played in the amateur league for Schalke 04 II, Bochum II, Onterhachen and other teams, and has never played in the Bundesliga or Bundesliga.
In the summer of 2006 , Tony Tapalovic returned to Schalke II from Offenbach Kickers. It was also in that season that Neuer snatched the main position of the professional team from German international Frank Rost and made a strong debut. When Rost was ousted in the winter window, Tapalovic doubled as a substitute goalkeeper for the professional team, not only intersecting with Neuer, but also forging a deep friendship.
Tapalovic had served as Neuer's backup at Schalke 04.
When Neuer switched from Schalke to Bayern in the summer of 2011 for 30 million euros, Tapalovic who had just hung up his boots due to injury and started working for Schalke's youth team soon received a call from Neuer inviting him to work at Bayern. Thapa described his goalkeeping philosophy to then-manager Heynckes and successfully impressed the old manager. Heynckes later recalled: "I was very interested in his ideas. When Bayern officially announced Neuer's arrival, it also officially announced the hiring of Tapalovich, who was only 30 years old at the time, as the goalkeeper coach. Neuer said at the time: "I am confident that I will continue to improve with his help. ”
Neuer proved to be brilliant and Tapalovic really helped him become the best goalkeeper in the world and even set a new benchmark for the position. As Neuer wrote on Instagram after Thapa's sacking at Bayern: "You shaped and promoted me and took my goalkeeping style to a new level. In an exclusive interview with Bayern's official magazine "51" four years ago, Neuer also said: "I can be who I am today thanks to Tapalovich. ”
Tapalovich's philosophy and training helped Neuer become an epoch-making door god.
Tapalovic admits that his relationship with Neuer is not the average player-coach relationship, "I don't know if there has been an example of this relationship with a goalkeeper coach in the history of the Bundesliga. We tend to glance at it enough, and we all know what it means. "They are both mentors and apprentices, good friends, and can even be considered partners. Without Thapa's imaginative and forward-looking goalkeeping philosophy and training methods, there would be no great story of Neuer becoming a "world" and a "gatekeeper".
So it is understandable why the departure of a goalkeeper coach will most likely mean that the era of Neuer will be gone. Although as early as Neuer broke his right calf and faced at least half a year of injury suspension, there have been many people who have already asserted that he will give up Bayern's main position with the German team, and may even be forced to hang up his boots, but at least within the Bayern team, he still has Tapa as an absolute supporter, which will help him regain pole position after recovering his fitness. Now that even the only person who may be convinced of him has been ousted, it means that Neuer will have to rely on his own skills to stage another "return of the king" - and considering that he is about to turn 37, the objective conditions are more demanding than ever.
Nibel, who did not want to return, was attacked
The question arises: if Tapalovich is so powerful, why was he suddenly fired? Is Bayern just trying to show a yellow card to the "unprofessional" Neuer? It's obviously not that simple.
According to sports director Salihamidzic, the two sides parted ways because of "differences, especially on the way we work together." Two days earlier, Niebel complained on a TV show that he had little contact with Thapa since his loan loan to Monaco: "Before that, we had a normal relationship. I think we should talk from time to time about how I'm going, but that's not the case. Sally was quick to respond, saying he would talk internally, and the decision to fire Thapa was negotiated.
During the year together, Tapalovich did not pay enough attention to Nibel.
In fact, long before Nibel's public scandal, the German media had revealed that during Nibel's workout in Monaco, only Sally kept in touch with him, while Nagelsmann and Tapalovic hardly bothered - the coach even admitted personally that he had never contacted Nibel. With Neuer seriously injured and Bayern in desperate need of urgent signing, Nibel's early return to what should have been a "Plan A" was taken for granted, but the parties always showed little interest. Even if Neuer has to sit back on the bench immediately after recovering from injury, Nebel can be a regular for half a season, so why not? Clearly, there are factors that make Niebel reluctant to return to Bayern, and it is not as simple as Monaco's reluctance to release him. All indications are that the factor hindering Nibel's early return is Tapalovich, because Ulreich also belongs to the same camp as Neuer and Thapa, and perhaps even if Nibel returns, Thapa will suggest to Nagelsmann to use Ulreich.
Of course, as Niebel himself said, he and Thapa actually had a normal relationship during their time together in the 2020/21 season, and there was no selfish grudge between the two. Even Bild previously revealed that when Bayern brought in Nibel, Tharpa (including Neuer) was actually involved. Nibel's current attack, ostensibly aimed at Thapa, is actually trying to challenge Neuer under a "neutral" coach to improve his odds.
Nagelsmann is the main reason
However, Nibel, the ostensible fuse, actually has little to do with Bayern's ousting of Tapalovich. All major German media have pointed out that the real contradiction lies between Nagelsmann and Tapalovich. Long before moving to Bayern from RB Leipzig, Nagelsmann wanted to bring Leipzig goalkeeper coach Frederick Gusling. But Bayern's hierarchy soon made it clear to him that Neuer and Thapa were an inseparable whole. Under Flick, Thapa gained more power at one point, taking on an assistant role, especially during matches. But when the coach took over, Thapa returned to being a pure goalkeeping coach.
The cooperation between Nagelsmann and Tapalovich was not pleasant.
German media revealed that Nagelsmann complained last season about the content of internal discussions in the coaching staff, and Thapa would often leak to Neuer, and then the whole team knew, and Tharpa found it difficult to work according to the coach's instructions. There is also internal dissatisfaction with Thapa's way of working, arguing that he takes too much care of Neuer and Ulreich and neglects the young goalkeeper, including Niebel. Bayern's former goalkeeper coach Sepp Meyer recently criticized Bayern's approach to bringing in Zomer at a high price, not targeting the Swiss goal, but "can't understand why Bayern spent tens of millions to build a youth academy, but can't send a good young goalkeeper to the first team." "Thapa may also have some responsibility in this matter.
There has been dissatisfaction within Bayern and especially with the way Tharpa works for a long time, and the reason why he suddenly attacked him in the middle of the season is precisely because of his inseparable and special relationship with Neuer – it is clear that Neuer's serious injury (rather than Nieber's attack) is the real trigger. Previously, when reporting on Bayern's search for a replacement for Neuer, "Kicker" revealed a detail: Tapalovic was not always involved. And the signing of Ulreich in the summer of 2021 was actively promoted by Thapa and Neuer. By all indications, Tapa was not a whim on the spur of Sully.
Tapalovich's ouster made the relationship between Nagelsmann and Neuer, who was older than him, very delicate. Although Neuer is temporarily out of position due to injury, he is still the captain after all and will play a role that cannot be ignored in the dressing room. Nagelsmann first felt the pressure of leaving class during a four-game winning streak in the first half of the league, and later saved 12 games with a wave of 13 consecutive unbeaten games, and he changed his management style and increased communication with the players, which made the atmosphere in the team significantly better than last season. But now that Thapa has been driven away (in addition to Neuer, team deputy Mueller also publicly thanked Thapa and gave him a high praise for the first time), the league has suffered a series of draws, plus Gnabry took advantage of the fact that he ran to Paris Fashion Week without training last Sunday to cause criticism, so after the match against Cologne, Sully was publicly criticized and a series of events on and off the field, which made the "Green Club" re-undercurrent.
Without Tapalovich, Neuer will lose further ground.
Football is still about results, as long as they can beat the top chasers Frankfurt at home this Saturday, the pressure on Bayern and Nagelsmann will be effectively relieved, but if they still can't win, or even lose at home like last season, then the scene of last September will be repeated, casting a shadow over the upcoming Champions League 1/8 final. Compared with the league, the Champions League is a more important reference for judging the performance of the manager.
Who will be the ultimate winner?
Tapalovich's departure from class will certainly continue to ferment. Although Niebel is only a secondary factor in the matter, it is certainly the result he would like to see and remove a major obstacle to his return to Bayern after his loan spell. Although Zomer has only worked with Thapa for a few days, and the impact on him seems to be minimal, in the long run, Thapa's departure also increases the possibility of Zomer replacing Neuer in the medium to long term.
After just a few days together, Zomer said goodbye to Tapalovich.
Bayern will have four experienced goalkeepers in the new season, with Zomer and Nieber both signed until the summer of 2025, Neuer and Ulreich only signed until 2024, when at least one and even two will leave. If Thapa was still there, Niebel would almost certainly be the first to go, but now Ulreich's situation has suddenly become very unfavorable and he will not accept the role of Sanmen.
Of course, there is another important factor: Will Neuer be able to return to his health and playing conditions at the start of the new season? If the answer is yes, can Neuer take back the main position from Zomer under the new goalkeeping coach? And if Neuer doesn't recover in time, the rivalry between Zomer and Niebel will also be a big drama.
Tom Stark, who had served as a substitute for Neuer and Ulreich, temporarily replaced Tapalovich.
On the other hand, Tom Stark has temporarily replaced Tapalovic as goalkeeper coach against Cologne. The 41-year-old Stark was loyal and reliable as a substitute goalkeeper for Bayern in the last six years of his career, with a final return in 2017/18 due to a serious injury to Neuer. Now working in the Bayern Academy academy, he is naturally the favourite to succeed Thapa, but he is said to be tired of the professional football life that often has to travel and stay in hotels.
If Stark is not willing to take over, then another former Bundesliga goalkeeper, Drobni, has a good chance to take the position. The 43-year-old Czech, who played 202 Bundesliga games for Bochum, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Düsseldorf, was also selected for the Czech national team before hanging up his boots in autumn 2021 and joining Bayern II as goalkeeper coach.