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The former Brazil international striker discussed the reasons behind the club’s struggles with Niko Kovac and how everything has changed now.
Bayern Munich’s rebirth in the second half of the 2019-20 Bundesliga season is largely due to players respecting Hansi Flick more than former head coach Niko Kovac, according to Giovane Elber.
The reigning league champions had a mixed start to the season and decided to fire Kovac in November after a 5-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt left them fourth in the standings.
Assistant coach Flick, who was also part of Germany’s No. 2 set-up between 2006 and 2014, parachuted into the caretaker position and is now the permanent head coach after turning the team’s campaign around.
With the return of the Bundesliga on May 16, Bayern are currently four points away from their rivals Dortmund and Elber feels that the club’s title rivals missed the opportunity to capitalize during the Bavarian recession.
“Bayern started very irregularly and then they made the change [of manager]Elber said objective.
“Flick already knew the players for Bayern and the German national team and had everyone’s respect and admiration, so it was easy for him to communicate with the players again.”
“With Niko Kovac, it seemed like he couldn’t get to the players. He worked on a team and the team didn’t seem to obey his orders.”
“With the new manager, the players no longer had anyone to blame. A bad game was no longer the manager’s fault, as it was before. It would be the players’ fault.”
“So the players got together and started playing well, because we are talking about very good players. And now we are back on top.”
“Borussia Dortmund could have done better because they had the opportunity to accumulate more points during that poor period. But neither they nor Leipzig took the risk and now it is difficult to take Bayern.” [from the top]”
The Bundesliga has been postponed since February due to the coronavirus pandemic, but will return on Saturday, with the Revierderby between Dortmund and Schalke kicking things off.
Elber believes the match has become the most intriguing game in the Bundesliga, even more so than the traditional heavyweight battles between Bayern and Dortmund.
“Bayern versus Gladbach was the most important game: It used to be a game that made people anxious and anxious to watch,” Elber recalled.
“But then Gladbach started to fade, he was relegated … now they are getting back on track, fighting for the places in the Champions League.”
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“But since I started playing in the Bundesliga in 1994, the biggest rivalry is Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke. It is a regional rivalry, you know?
“Bayern against Dortmund is good because people are always excited to see him and the two teams are usually the favorites for the title.”
“But in terms of emotions [the biggest match] It really is Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke. It’s exciting “.
