Looking back on his time as coach of FC Bayern Munich, Niko Kovac has admitted mistakes – namely when dealing with Munich veteran Thomas Müller. “From today’s perspective, Thomas should have played a lot more back then. From my current perspective, I wouldn’t have done that anymore,” said Kovac on Sunday on the “Sky90” program.
Fan favorite Müller did not get a chance at the German football record champions as usual during Kovac’s tenure from summer 2018 to the beginning of November 2019. His statement at the time that Müller would “certainly get his minutes if there was a need” was misleading, said Kovac (53). He didn’t mean it that way and “simply made a mistake”.
“I wanted to say: If things don’t work out, then he will definitely come. He wasn’t the last resort; if there’s no one left, he’ll play. That was my mistake,” Kovac now explained.
Kovac: “Thomas Müller is FC Bayern”
Rather, he felt forced to take this step due to the situation at Bayern at the time. The club had a team “that had to be rebuilt. It was a requirement that the generational change should be pushed forward,” explained the former Bayern professional. He had no problem with Müller at the time and spoke clearly with him about the situation.
Kovac also emphasized his appreciation for Müller. The 35-year-old is an “identification figure, he is FC Bayern Munich”. He is like Lothar Matthäus, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Oliver Kahn or Manuel Neuer, “that’s FC Bayern Munich”. And he will definitely do everything right, “if they keep him and then integrate him into the club after football,” said Kovac.
