Berlin (AFP) – Interim coach Hansi Flick has brushed off rumours linking Bayern Munich to Mauricio Pochettino, but Schalke coach David Wagner insists the ex-Tottenham manager would be an asset for the Bundesliga.
Flick has been appointed caretaker coach of Bayern Munich until at least the winter break, which starts on December 22.
He stepped in after Niko Kovac was sacked in early November following a 5-1 thrashing at Eintracht Frankfurt – Bayern’s heaviest league defeat for a decade.Beer and a sausage
Premier League side Spurs sacked Mauricio Pochettino in mid-week and replaced him with Jose Mourinho on Wednesday.
The German media has linked Pochettino to Bayern, but Flick dismissed the speculation on Friday.
“For me, it doesn’t matter which name is in circulation,” he said in a press conference ahead of Bayern’s away match at Fortuna Duesseldorf on Saturday.
“I try to be successful with the team – the rest doesn’t interest me.”
Spurs play Bayern in Munich on December 11 having been routed 7-2 at home by the German giants in the Champions League when Serge Gnabry scored four goals in early October.
So far, Bayern have won their two games under Flick, the assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup, including a 4-0 thrashing of Dortmund to go third in the Bundesliga.
The 54-year-old insists he is “absolutely happy” with overseeing Bayern’s eight games until Christmas.
“The decisive thing is that the club has time to think about what is most important for it in the future,” said Flick on Friday in Munich.
However up in Gelsenkirchen, Schalke boss Wagner, who coached Huddersfield in the Premier League, was enthusiastic about the mere possibility of Pochettino coming to Bayern.
Wagner says Pochettino could follow in the footsteps of Pep Guardiola, who coached Bayern for three seasons until 2016, and current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who led Dortmund to the 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga titles.
“He (Pochettino) is one of the best coaches in the world”, said Wagner ahead of Schalke’s away match at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
“If such a coach comes to the Bundesliga, then after Guardiola and Klopp, we would have one of the absolute top coaches here again”.
Wagner believes Pochettino would fit “100 percent” into the Bundesliga and described the Argentinian as a “pleasant person who did outstanding things at Tottenham”.
