By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Julian Nagelsmann didn't try to hide his deep disappointment after his team's exit in the quarterfinal of the UEFA Champions League against Spanish underdogs Villareal.
One could see the Bayern coach walk barefooted and deep in thought over the club's training pitches.
The unfamiliar silence seems to have taken hold of all involved. Nagelsmann and his squad went through assumedly the most silent training session in the club's history.
The Champions League setback apparently has left deep wounds. The 34-year-old coach might have thought about the significant upcoming changes, unsolved contract cases, and what his collaboration with the club leaders might look like.
There seem no taboos left currently. Selling top striker Robert Lewandowski seems something sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and chairman Oliver Kahn are thinking about.
Nagelsmann has on several occasions called for a quality update of his squad in order for the club to stay among Europe's top sides competing for the Champions League title.
The Bayern coach not only called for new faces but seemed annoyed at not only having to coach the squad, but also act as the club's crisis manager over the past months when it came to statements about the club's issues.
Reports speak of Nagelsmann having felt left alone by Salihamidzic and Kahn; both too often disappeared and kept silent.
Now the time seems to have come to develop and express a convincing strategy for the future.
Unsolved contracts surrounding the future of club icons such as Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry have affected the team's stability.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge spoke of "noticeable unrest" affecting the squad. The former chairman said having two Spanish and two English clubs in the last four of the Champions League mirrors the current state of European football.
The 66-year-old expressed his concerns about the German Bundesliga's standing in international markets.
Meanwhile, Bayern is said to have set up a list of possible successors for Lewandowski. Reports speak of the 33-year-old Pole being disappointed about the club's reluctance regarding a new contract.
Departing this summer has become an option, despite Kahn's statements saying the star striker has to stay at least until the end of his current contract in 2023.
Salihamidzic is under fire as many of his transfers didn't meet expectations, along with Nagelsmann increasing the pressure on the club's leaders to take action.
Rummenigge increased the turmoil by saying "the setback isn't caused by the squad's quality," and recommending that Nagelsmann leave transfers to the ones responsible.
Former Bayern captain and TV pundit Lothar Matthaus blamed Kahn and Salihamidzic for lacking a closer and more family-like relationship with the players. The record German international said Kahn had chosen the wrong path as the successor of former presidents Uli Hoeness and Rummenigge. ■
