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BERLIN, August 2-- His first game was far from a dream start, but former Bayern professional Hasan Salihamidzic is happy with his new job as director of sports with the 2017 German Champion. This Tuesday evening, the Bavarian side lost their opening match of the 2017 Audi Cup against Premier League club Liverpool FC 3-0, with the former striker attending his first game sitting on Bayern's bench next to head coach Carlo Ancelotti. Despite their bad start, and growing concern due to disappointing results in three promotion games against Arsenal FC (4-3), AC Milan (4-0) and Inter Milan (2-0) in China and Singapore, Bayern has solved a long lasting problem when it comes to their coaching staff. For weeks Bayern's problematic search for a successor to Matthias Sammer, who quit the job over a year ago, was one of the hot topics in German football and seemed to end up like a never-ending story. Appointing Salihamidzic was a surprise, and a smart solution after Bayern was in trouble having to explain why many well-known candidates refused the job, such as former Bayern defender and team-captain Philipp Lahm, former keeper Oliver Kahn and Max Eberl, managing director of league rival Borussia Moenchengladbach. All three demanded a seat on the clubs board and feared they would not have enough influence next to the alpha leaders such as president Uli Hoeness and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. The solution Bayern came up with is clever, because Salihamidzic's job-profile is avoiding any trouble between Hoeness and Rummenigge. It gives both Bayern leaders enough time to find appropriate decadences until they retire in a few years time. | 
