Ballack Recommends Mourinho To Bayern Munich
By Nigel Phillips
Michael Ballack has urged Bayern Munich to appoint Jose Mourinho as manager when current boss Nico Kovac leaves the club.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder believes Mourinho could bring some spark to the club and the Bundesliga at large.
Kovac is only in his first season in charge at Bayern, who are leading the Bundesliga table with Borussia Dortmund sitting just a point behind them in second place.
Kovac, 47, is not completely safe owing to Bayern’s failure to dominate the title race and the elimination from the Champions League by Liverpool at the one-sixteenth stage.
It however, does not look likely that Kovac would leave should Bayern win the title, but Ballack insists the club must push for Mourinho, who has been out of a job since he was sacked by Manchester United in December 2018.
"Right now, Niko Kovac is the head coach and that should be respected. He does a good job. [But] one cannot deny that, at some point in the future, the appointment of Mourinho would bring a certain glamour to the club and the Bundesliga.”
“It has been seen with Pep Guardiola—his appointment gave the league a giant jolt, even if he did not win the Champions League at the end with Bayern.”
"Guardiola introduced a certain style of play, he's an exceptional coach. In addition, the international profile of each club is many times higher when you get Guardiola or Mourinho. With a coach like Mourinho, it's probably easier for a club to get top stars.”
“At the moment, the Bundesliga does not have the same appeal for world-class players as the Premier League. But Bayern would be well-advised to have world stars in their team."
Ballack, 42, played under Mourinho during his four-season spell at Chelsea between 2006 and 2010.
The Portuguese manager was at the top of his game then and left the west London club in 2007 with two Premier League titles.
Mourinho joined Inter Milan in 2009-10 and led them to beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League, courtesy Diego Milito’s brace.
The tough-talking coach left for Real Madrid and guarded Los Blancos to beat Pep Guardiola's Barcelona to La Liga title in the 2011-12 season.
Mourinho returned to Chelsea and won a third Premier League title in 2014-15, but his career has been on a downward trajectory ever since.
He has left both Chelsea and Manchester United after dire starts to Premier League seasons and appears to be losing the magic touch that made him outstanding years back.
