"Julian Nagelsmann will make a lot of changes at Bayern Munich" - Lothar Matthäus
Bundesliga legend Lothar Matthäus believes big changes are coming at Bayern Munich next season following the arrival of Julian Nagelsmann as the club's new head coach.
Bayern will go into the 2021/22 campaign with a new man at the helm when the 33-year-old tactician departs RB Leipzig to take the reigns from Hansi Flick, who himself will take over the German national team from Joachim Löw.
Flick won seven titles across his 18 months in charge of Bayern, including the club's second-ever continental treble that became a sextuple before his departure this summer. He leaves big shoes to fill for Nagelsmann, and Matthäus believes that the new man in charge at Bayern will have to both learn quickly and bring his own style to the job.
Watch: Flick's remarkable success story at Bayern
"I think he has to improve the team, not only the individual players," former Bayern and Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Matthäus said. "If you've followed Bayern for the last two years with Hansi Flick as the head coach, you see them always playing the same system: 4-2-3-1. This was the system from Bayern in each game and nothing changed.
"With Nagelsmann, they will change. He moves constantly from a three-man defence to four-man and even five-man. Sometimes he's playing with two strikers, sometimes only with one striker. This will change at Bayern, but with the players, he has to get them behind him in the same way that Hansi Flick was doing and then he will have a great time in Munich."
At Bayern, it's all about winning in Matthäus' eyes. And he should know, being a seven-time Bundesliga and three-time DFB Cup winner with the record German champions. But that is something Nagelsmann will have to learn during his time back in his native part of Germany.
Want more Bundesliga Action?
The former Hoffenheim and Leipzig coach has yet to clinch a major title in his career, with his achievements so far rather coming in the form of UEFA Champions League qualification for both sides, and even a semi-final in that competition last season with Die Roten Bullen.
If Nagelsmann can keep the trophies coming for Bayern, though, his time there will be a happy one.
"Bayern is the special club in Germany - you can read it in the history of the Bundesliga," Matthäus said. "Being at Bayern is fantastic when you win. It's the best job in the world for Nagelsmann to be the head coach at Bayern because everyone will support him and you have to win titles, which he hasn't done, so he has to learn that."
And while Nagelsmann is the major coaching change of the summer, he's far from the only one. Seven of the teams that finished in the top eight of the table in 2020/21 will go into the new season with a new head coach. Six of those appointments have already been confirmed.
Marco Rose has swapped Borussia Mönchengladbach for Borussia Dortmund, while Adi Hütter will replace him with the Foals after leaving Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolfsburg's Oliver Glasner has taken his place, while Gerado Seoane will join Bayer Leverkusen.
Jesse Marsch has left Salzburg to replace Nagelsmann at Leipzig, and that coaching move is one that particularly interests Matthäus ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
"It's exciting for Bayern but it's also exciting to see what will happen in Leipzig," Matthäus said. "The new coach is coming from Salzburg back to Leipzig where he was assistant before. We have a lot of stories in the Bundesliga, not only on the pitch but also on the bench. Maybe that's where the real fun is this summer.
"Coaching changes in the Bundesliga is definitely one of the headlines of the last two months."
Related news
Hoffenheim appoint Ilzer as new head coach
Hoffenheim have landed the Austrian Bundesliga champions' coach.
Musiala becoming the complete goalscorer
Already frighteningly good, the Bayern attacker is working hard to add even more strings to his bow.
US Soccer Players in Germany: 2024/25 update
How did the likes of Joe Scally, Gio Reyna and Jordan fare on Matchday 10?