Jupp Heynckes: “Bayern Munich will have the right new coach in the summer”
Jupp Heynckes has turned Bayern Munich’s season around since his returning to the club in October. The record champions look a certainty for a sixth consecutive title, but the 72-year-old tactician has reaffirmed that his commitment to Bayern will last only until the summer, saying that Bayern will have “the right new coach” by then.
Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel and Joachim Löw are among those who have been linked with the main coaching role at the record Bundesliga champions in recent months. Whomever the Bavarians appoint as his successor, Heynckes is confident the club will be in safe hands when his fourth and final spell in charge of Die Roten comes to an end.
“Bayern will have a suitable coach in the summer,”Heynckes said in an interview with Bild. “It’s up to the board [who they appoint]. They’re really happy right now, but Bayern need to have success. Then they’ll have the right coach.”
Watch: Lewandowski vs. Heynckes
Heynckes has turned the record champions’ season around since returning to the club last October. Five points off the pace at the time of Carlo Ancelotti's dismissal, the Bavarians have raced into a 20-point lead at the Bundesliga summit, reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup and have one foot in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League following last Tuesday’s last-16 first-leg victory over Besiktas.
Bayern enjoyed the most successful campaign of any side in German football history during Heynckes’ previous spell in charge, storming to a remarkable treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League in 2012/13. Most coaches would have jumped at the chance of repeating that unprecedented achievement, but for Heynckes the decision to leave his family in Mönchengladbach and return to Munich was far from straightforward.
Watch: Heynckes’ treble-winning 2012/13 season
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“I discussed it all with my wife and daughter because it wasn’t easy giving everything up at home at my age,” said the septuagenarian, who is currently living away from his family in a Munich hotel. “It’s not so easy now. You come back to an empty hotel room in the evening, which isn’t fun. Most of the time I just go to bed because I’m tired.
“The way I work and analyse opponents doesn’t leave much time for a private life. I enjoy doing it now, but you need energy and physical stability, to always be aware and on the ball. You can’t show any weaknesses.”
