Nagelsmann not getting carried away over Kahn praise

Julian Nagelsmann insists he is not getting carried away after receiving public praise from Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn regarding his positive start as the club’s coach.

Nagelsmann took over from Hansi Flick in pre-season and has presided over nine wins from 10 matches across all competitions, with Borussia Monchengladbach the only team to avoid defeat to this new Bayern when they drew on matchday one of the 2021-22 Bundesliga campaign.

Bayern have amassed 16 points in their first six league games, their biggest total at this stage of a season since 2016-17 (also 16 points), while only Ottmar Hitzfeld (1998) and Otto Rehhagel (1995, both 18 points) have ever accumulated more from their first six Bundesliga matches with Die Roten.

On top of that, the champions have scored 23 times, more than any other Bayern coach in their first six league games in charge and a total bettered once (24, last season) in the club’s history.

Kahn’s praise came after Bayern battered Dynamo Kiev 5-0 in the Champions League, the former goalkeeper applauding Nagelsmann for making strides in his quest to make the team better defensively without impacting them negatively going forward.

“It’s always nice to hear positive things, even better when it’s internal,” he told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s Bundesliga clash with Eintracht Frankfurt.

“You have to classify things in order to understand them. I’ve taken on an outstanding team that does a lot of things right on its own.

“The influence of a coach is always smaller at such a large club. You try to bring in your own things, but we haven’t turned everything around.

“I am neither surprised nor disappointed. Progress and a ‘mark’ should be visible quickly.”

Marcel Sabitzer followed Nagelsmann to Bayern from RB Leipzig, though his impact in Bavaria has been significantly less spectacular, with the Austrian playing just 107 minutes across all competitions.

But Nagelsmann is calm about the situation, adamant Sabitzer had no expectations of walking straight into a regular role.

“He hardly trained in preparation because he had problems in the adductor area. First he has to find his way around. This is completely normal,” Nagelsmann said.

“He will get his working times, right from the start [of matches]. We have a very stable construction. He’s an excellent player, but he didn’t come here with the expectation to play every game from the start.”

Frankfurt are yet to win a league game under new boss Oliver Glasner, while they have suffered more top-flight defeats to and conceded more goals against Bayern than any other team, though Nagelsmann believes history counts for nothing.

“Basically, I am not interested, I read it briefly,” he said. “You can never buy anything from the past. It’s about expanding the statistics tomorrow and not thinking too much about the past.”