"Stories that had nothing to do with football": Uli Hoeneß takes another swipe at a former Bayern Munich manager

According to Hoeneß, what sets the Belgian coach apart from many predecessors is his "interpersonal skills". "He never lets anyone down. He would never single out a player in the press, nor speak ill of his players, the club or the team after a poor performance."

That professionalism also shapes his dealings with the media, notably during transfer windows. "He never complains publicly, saying, 'We need a left-back, we need this or that.' Instead, he focuses on improving the players at his disposal—and that's exactly what he's done," the 74-year-old concluded.

Hoeneß is delighted that "the journalists in Munich have to get back to work." He explains, "With one or two coaches in the past – Tuchel comes to mind – you always ended up with a good story after a press conference, but it had nothing to do with football. Now, with Vincent, they have to write about football again."

While Hoeneß acknowledges that Tuchel and former Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann were intelligent enough to hold their own in Munich, he feels they lacked a certain social dimension compared to Kompany. "As a person," he says, "I would say Kompany is almost perfect. He is multilingual, speaks four or five languages fluently and switches effortlessly from one to the other."

Hoeneß has repeatedly made snide remarks about Tuchel; as Kompany's immediate predecessor, Tuchel managed Bayern Munich from 2023 to 2024. In the podcast "Auf eine weiß-blaue Tasse" with Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, he noted that Tuchel had been unaware that FCB defender Josip Stanisic spoke German.

In an early 2025 interview with t-online, he also criticised Tuchel's preference for "a relatively large number of transfers", noting that such ambitions did not sit well with the club's hierarchy. "On a personal level, our relationship was absolutely fine right up to the end. But in many areas, he simply has a completely different view of how to lead a team," the 74-year-old explained.

On the pitch, Tuchel's reign was turbulent: Bayern won the 2023 Bundesliga title by edging Borussia Dortmund but finished a distant second to Bayer 04 Leverkusen the following season.

In the Champions League, Bayern narrowly missed the final in 2024 after a controversial semi-final loss to Real Madrid.

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