Is Kovac’s time at Bayern limited?

Nico Kovac days at Bayern seem to be numbered. He hasn’t had the best start to life at the club and the results have not been good either. Bayern currently are in 5th in the Bundesliga, nine points behind Dortmund in first. Bayern surrendered a 3-1 lead on the weekend to draw 3-3 at home to Dusseldorf. Muller scored twice with Sule scoring the other for Bayern, but a hattrick from Lukebakio which included a 93rd equalizer to end the game as a draw. Kovac slammed his teams defending after the match for conceding twice late in the game. Kovac was also critical of his payers that even though they were 3-1 up they pushed forward and left gaps at the back.

After the match Kovac told the press:

“If you have the game under control and lead, then I am anything but happy – I am very angry. I just cannot understand that we did not realise the position we were in.

“But far worse is the way we defended all three goals conceded. It does not matter if you are playing against a struggling side or Champions League team, these mistakes will be punished.”

This shows his frustration at the lack of match awareness his team had. It seems that Kovac is losing patience with his team’s mistakes and surrendering winning positions. The same happened two weeks ago before the international break against Dortmund. Bayern were ahead twice in the game but both times Dortmund came back, and they ended up beating Bayern 3-2.

After three games in the league without a win many are calling for Kovac to be sacked. However, it is hard for him with his players not performing to their capabilities. His midfield have not looked as sharp as previous seasons, and the defense looks shaky. Neuer has not looked like the same keeper he was before he missed almost all of last season through injury. He had a terrible world cup and his form has not improved since then. However, Kovac also needs to take some of the blame. He has not been playing Rodriguez or Muller as much this season and they were both integral to last season’s title win.

Bayern and Kovac will take many positives from their 5-1 home win against Benfica in the Champions League last night which sent them through to the round of 16. However, they know that the team needs to continue performing like this, especially in the league if Kovac wants to keep his job, and if they are going to catch up with Dortmund.