January 22, (THEWILL) – Julian Nagelsmann has dismissed the idea of the Bundesliga adopting play-offs in the manner of American sports, forecasting Bayern Munich to retain their title.
Former Bayern Munich technical director Michael Reschke, who currently works for a renowned player management organisation, offered the idea.
In an interview with German sports show Ran this week, Reschke had proposed a system in which the top four teams in the league compete for the title in a mini tournament, stating that it would give the season’s end an extra edge.
He believes that play-offs should only be held in years when there is no international summer event.
Adding extra games to the schedule, though, would certainly do more harm than good, according to Nagelsmann. In a press conference on Friday, Bayern’s head coach said: “Despite the play-offs, things would technically stay the same.
“It’s not like you’d have to pick someone, draft someone or comply with a salary cap or whatever. Even with play-offs, we would still have a good chance to win this.
“I said many times that you have to be cautious that there is not too much sport on TV. Or not more than currently. A demand can become oversaturated if there’s too much of it.
“Football lives from its fans and spectators. That is the emotional side, but also financially, too many games or a model with more games could be more stress for the players, the quality of the games then decreases.
“Ticket prices become too expensive because of too many games. But people don’t want to pay for it anymore because it’s no fun to watch anymore.
“The entire system could suffer from this, so you would have to think carefully. But I am always open to new ideas, expressing my opinion, even though it will not have much influence on what will actually happen.”
Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga nine times in a row and leads the table again this season, with a six-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund heading into the weekend’s action.
Nagelsmann is in his first season as coach of the Bavarians.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
