"Kovac a great success" - Hoeneß

Bayern exited the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16, but sit top of the Bundesliga standings with four games to go and are through to the final of the DFB Cup - the competition Kovac won with Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2018 before succeeding Jupp Heynckes in Munich.

"When a coach comes in and reaches the final of the DFB Cup in his first season and you're top of the table with four games to go, then he's done a good job," Hoeness explained, as reported by spox.com. "We've got nothing to complain about."

Watch: How the Bundesliga table has evolved throughout this season!

Hoeneß also said he'd read how Kovac has overseen "the best second half of a season in Bayern's history". And even though the statistics say otherwise - the record champions took 49 points from 17 Rückrunde matches during their 2012/13 treble-winning campaign under Heynckes, but can only reach 46 this term - Bayern's domestic performances since the turn of the year have been almost faultless.

As well as outfoxing Hertha Berlin, Heidenheim and Werder Bremen en route to setting up a DFB Cup final with RB Leipzig, Kovac has masterminded 11 wins from 13 Bundesliga matches with a goal difference of +32, in the process turning a six-point deficit on Borussia Dortmund into a one-point lead. With league games against Nuremberg, Hannover, Leipzig and Frankfurt to come, Bayern are back in charge of their own destiny.

"I have no idea why people are even questioning Kovac - he's been a great success this season," Hoeneß continued. "We're top of the table, we're a point better off than Dortmund and have a substantially better goal difference. We of course know any slip-ups could prove decisive; we only have to draw and then we could be behind again, but it's in our hands. We just need to keep going as we have been. I'm really proud of the team."