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| Louis van Gaal © Action Images |
Time is running out for Louis van Gaal to convince the bosses at Bayern Munich he can restore fortunes to Germany's most successful club.
The highly-regarded Dutch coach needs a victory over visiting
Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga's top game on Saturday to calm frayed
Bayern nerves amid a looming exit from the Champions League.
Van Gaal has yet to find the right formula since taking over at
the start of the season, and another defeat in the Allianz Arena
against a confident Schalke side could even spell the end for him.
That at least is the view of the German media as they take stock
of what has gone wrong at Bayern, who despite their inconsistent
form are still only four points adrift of the top.
According to the Bild newspaper, Bayern players have not taken
to Van Gaal's authoritarian style, while the coach's team
selections - in 18 games he has had 18 different line-ups - has
also led to uncertainty.
Kicker sports magazine, carrying the headline "Is it over on
Saturday?", said the coach was now fighting for his job.
However Bild said that as Van Gaal is the fifth coach at Bayern
in three years, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and general manager
Uli Hoeness will be keen to stick with him as long as possible.
"A new dismissal would be a declaration of bankruptcy for the
board," it said.
President Franz Beckenbauer, writing in Bild, said he would not
want to draw comparisons between Van Gaal and Juergen Klinsmann,
who was sacked towards the end of last season despite results no
worse.
Klinsmann was an "experiment" with a young, inexperienced coach
while Van Gaal had been successful with clubs such as Barcelona and
Ajax, Beckenbauer said. However, he added, "in the end it's the
results that count here as at every other club."
Van Gaal gave the players the day off on Thursday to help them
clear their minds after Tuesday's 2-0 home to defeat against
Bordeaux which could mean an early exit from the Champions League.
"I have to turn our focus on to Schalke in the space of three
days but it's always difficult after a game like yesterday's," Van
Gaal said on Wednesday.
"The players are upset and they've slept badly, they're all
wound up in their own thoughts."
Ironically Van Gaal's fate could be sealed by Felix Magath, who
was sacked by Bayern after winning the league and cup double twice
and whose Wolfsburg championship-winning side last season also went
some way to ending Klinsmann's tenure in Munich.
Now in charge at Schalke, Magath has fashioned a tough outfit
who are lying fourth in the table with the best away record in the
league.
Fresh from resilient draws against rivals Bayer Leverkusen and
SV Hamburg in the last two weeks, Magath is looking for a similar
performance in Munich but warns against a wounded Bayern.
"I can imagine this has made our life more difficult," he said
of Bayern's defeat against Bordeaux.
Leverkusen, on top with 23 points, meanwhile defend their lead
on Friday evening at home to mid-table Eintracht Frankfurt, now
under former Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe. Leverkusen, the only
unbeaten side in the league, have drawn their last three games.
Second-placed Werder Bremen, a point behind, are at home to
Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, while northern rivals Hamburg - level
on points in third place - visit Hanover on Saturday.
Elsewhere on Saturday, fifth-placed Hoffenheim are up against
seventh-placed Wolfsburg, Borussia Moenchengladbach entertain
struggling VfB Stuttgart, Mainz meet Nuremberg, and Bochum face
Freiburg.
Sunday's remaining game sees basement side Hertha Berlin aiming
to close a four-point gap at the bottom when they take on
fourth-last Cologne at the Olympic Stadium.
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