What is behind the coach alliance against chief critics?
The tense relationship between coaches and TV pundits has not let go of the Bundesliga. In the middle of it all: Thomas Tuchel and Steffen Baumgart, who seem to have formed an alliance against the critics. One expert gives reasons for the spat and says when the boundaries of good taste are crossed.
One speaks of "nonsense", the other of "absolute cheek". Although Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart and Bayern Munich's Thomas Tuchel will face each other in the Bundesliga this Friday (20:30/DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de), they both have one thing in common: how they deal with criticism from TV pundits such as Dietmar Hamann and Lothar Matthäus. While most coaches have so far dismissed expert statements as unwelcome background noise, Tuchel and Baumgart have recently defended themselves publicly.
For media scientist Christoph Bertling from the German Sport University Cologne, these are "communicative shields", as the expert emphasized. At the same time, criticism is part of the "profession", said Bertling: "You have to have respect for it when it becomes critical. It can also get louder. The arguments must be at the forefront."
However, the fact that coaches can react quite sensitively, such as Tuchel after the victory in the top match at Borussia Dortmund (4:0) at the expert table on Sky, is also related to the general development of the industry. "You notice that clubs are creating their own communication worlds and no longer allow this criticism," says the scientist. As a result, the people in the spotlight are "not used" to "enduring criticism" and therefore quickly feel attacked.
Higher costs, more experts
In the past, clubs would only provide information via their homepages, "now we have content marketing machinery that works really well," says Bertling. In this way, "I can communicate the things that are important to me quite well myself and don't need journalism." As a result, journalism can automatically become a bit of a "nuisance": "Everything that comes from outside is then seen as criticism if it doesn't fit into the illusory world."
Nevertheless, such friction is part of the business and is part of its appeal. "80 percent in Germany, if not more", would have been "highly entertained" by the verbal back and forth between Matthäus and Tuchel in Dortmund, estimated Bertling.
Due to rising license fees, broadcasters would like to fall back on additional experts for cost reasons alone, and here the calculation is simple. More experts, more opinions, more friction. As long as everyone sticks to the rules, Bertling sees no problems. An expert must be able to "make a proper assessment", he said: "Empathy would always be partisanship and an expert must not have that."
Tuchel and Baumgart's alliance against critics extends to their upcoming match against each other's teams, as they both share strong responses to criticism from pundits like Hamann and Matthäus. Lothar Matthäus, a former player and current Bundesliga pundit, is set to provide analysis during the 20:30 match between FC Bayern Munich, led by Thomas Tuchel, and 1.FC Cologne, coached by Steffen Baumgart.
Source: www.ntv.de
