Thomas Tuchel: brilliant tactician with ‘challenging’ streak

MUNICH, Germany: Welcomed with fanfare by Chelsea but then sacked just over a year later, Thomas Tuchel, who is returning to Germany as Bayern Munich’s new coach, is one of Europe’s most sought-after bosses but is not without controversy. The 49-year-old former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach has a reputation as a brilliant tactician who is not afraid to overhaul his side constantly. But he also has a streak of sackings behind him — with a bad-tempered exit at Borussia Dortmund in 2017 followed by an acrimonious parting from PSG in December 2020, and most recently in September, a tumultous departure from Chelsea.

Yet Tuchel’s turbulent CV has also shown that he has the capacity to bounce back to lead subsequent top flight clubs. The announcement Friday that he is taking over the reins at Bayern, Germany’s most successful club, from Julian Nagelsmann is yet another testimony to Tuchel’s employability. “Tuchel is not interested in marketing, in his image.

He is interested by his work, he just wants to be judged by his work and only that,” said Daniel Meuren, who wrote a biography on the German coach. On the field, the verdict so far is unanimous — every club that Tuchel has handled has obtained results and play attractive football. He led Chelsea to Champions League glory, won two French titles with PSG and lifted the German Cup with Dortmund.

At once charismatic and prickly, Tuchel, by his own admission, can be a challenging personality. “I wasn’t easy to deal with as a player,” he admitted in a 2009 interview. A knee injury cut short Tuchel’s playing career as a defender at third-division Ulm in 1998 and he turned his hand to coaching.