Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel

    Thomas Tuchel is one of the world's top football managers having led Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. He is now working on the international stage as head coach of England.

    England head coach Thomas Tuchel is the former manager of Bayern Munich, Chelsea, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Mainz 05 and FC Augsburg II.

    He has had a range of success over his managerial career and is known for his tactical style of play.

    Before his coaching days, the German had a short run as a player, but his career was cut short due to a knee cartilage injury.

    As a manager, Tuchel won the DFB-Pokal with Borussia Dortmund and won Ligue 1 twice at PSG as well as the Coupe de France. At Chelsea he won the 2021 Champions League, the Super Cup and the World Club Cup.

    In September 2022, Tuchel was sacked after a chastening 1-0 Champions League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb and an indifferent start to the new campaign.

    Tuchel returned to management in late March 2023, putting pen to paper on a deal until 2025 with German giants Bayern Munich, who sacked Julian Nagelsmann on the same day.

    He steered the German giants to their 11th straight Bundesliga title, and his first, following a dramatic finish in the final round of games in the 2022/23 season.

    Tuchel left Bayern Munich at the end of 2023/24 season, during which the club missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years. They also finished third in the table their worst league finish since 2010.

    On October 16, 2024, Tuchel was named as the new England heach coach - the third non-Englishman to hold the post after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

     

    Tuchel playing career

    Thomas Tuchel at Augsburg

    Tuchel played locally in Krumbach before moving to the FC Augsburg academy in 1988. He never appeared for the side and was released.

    However, he later was given the chance to play for Bundesliga 2 side Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992. Tuchel did not have the best of luck when it came to playing, and after two seasons at the Kickers he was dropped and joined SSV Ulm in the German fourth tier.

    His bad luck continued in 1998, at the age of 25, Tuchel had to retire from playing after suffering a knee cartilage injury.

     

    Tuchel's early coaching career

    Not long after his retirement, Tuchel went into coaching and managing. He became youth coach of VfB Stuttgart in 2002, where he helped develop the likes of Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.

    His impressive work at Stuttgart earned him a return to Augsburg in 2005 as youth coach. He continued to develop his coaching skills, and in the 2007/08 season he became the head coach of Augsburg II.

     

    Mainz 05

    After his time at Augsburg, Tuchel impressed a number of Bundesliga clubs. He joined Mainz 05 as a youth coach and was soon promoted to first team coach in 2009, taking over from Jurgen Klopp who had joined Borussia Dortmund.

    A small transfer budget, accompanied with the task of keeping a newly promoted side in the league appeared to be a tough job for the newly appointed Tuchel.

    However, his tactical approach was the reason for Mainz success. By uitilising long distribution and focusing on a high press, in his first season the club finished ninth in the Bundesliga.

    In the following 2010/11 campaign, Tuchel had his eyes on league progress. And with the arrivals of Lewis Holtby and Christian Fuchs, it allowed Mainz to finish in fifth place, qualifying for the third-qualifying round of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League.

    Although European qualification was a great success, Tuchel's side was unable to handle European and domestic soccer, slipping into 13th place for the next two seasons. But once again, recruitment aided a revival.

    The additions of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Loris Karius allowed Tuchel to transition his side. The manager also worked closely with prospect Yunus Malli to create a forward partnership with Choupo-Moting.

    This ongoing development earned Tuchel a two-year contract extension at the club.

    In his final season at Mainz, Tuchel acquired the likes of Shinji Okazaki and Julian Baumgartlinger allowing him to finish on a high, qualifying to the Europa League once more after finishing in a promising seventh place.

     

    Borussia Dortmund

    After replacing Klopp at Mainz, Tuchel did the same when Klopp left Borussia Dortmund for Liverpool in 2015. The German signed a three-year deal at the club, looking to help them achieve previous success.

    Unlike his time at Mainz, Tuchel had financial freedom and the ability to change the Dortmund squad. He brought in midfielders Gonzalo Castro and Julian Weigl as they became the engine room to his game plan.

    Dortmund's creative abilities were also aided by the arrivals of Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with Tuchel helping the German side to a second place finish in his first season.

    However, his first season finished trophyless, losing on penalties to Bayern Munich in the 2016 DFB-Pokal Final.

    In the next season, Dortmund spent huge amounts of money in a bid for domestic and European success. Ousmane Dembele, Marc Bartra and Raphael Guerreiro were brought in to assist Tuchel's plan.

    He succeeded as Dortmund won their first trophy in five years, returning and winning the DFB-Pokal, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.
     
    Despite success, that would be Tuchel's only trophy at the club as he was fired three days later on 30th May 2017, due to a poor relationship with the club's hierarchy, notably CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
     

    Moving to Paris

    In 2018, Tuchel replaced Unai Emery at Paris Saint-Germain, signing a two-year contract at the French Club.

    As soon as he arrived, Tuchel made use of PSG's deep transfer kitty and signed Kylian Mbappe for €135million from Monaco. He also brought in Thilo Kehrer, Juan Bernat and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

    In his first match as PSG boss, he claimed his first piece of silverware, beating Monaco 4-0 to win the Trophee des Champions.

    As the season continued, Tuchel broke the record for most points by Christmas in Ligue 1, with 47 after 17 games, as well as claiming his first title victory as a coach, winning the league with six game weeks to go.

    Sport Themen der Woche KW20 Sport Bilder des Tages joie des joueurs de Paris - champion de France - Buffon psg - Tuchel thomas entraineur de Paris FOOTBALL : Paris SG vs Dijon - Ligue 1 Conforama - 18/05/2019

    Although the German boss was knocked out of the Champions League and the Coupe de France in the 2018/19 season, Tuchel accepted a one-year contract extension.

    In his second season, Tuchel retained the Trophee des Champions and Ligue 1, as well as winning the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue for the first time, completing the domestic quadruple.

    Tuchel and PSG also reached their first Champions League final, but lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.

    In the 2020/21 campaign, Tuchel departed PSG after again falling out with the club's hierarchy.

     

    Chelsea challenges

    Thomas Tuchel with Champions League at Chelsea

    After great success in France, Tuchel joined Chelsea during the 2020/21 campaign, replacing club legend Frank Lampard.

    Tuchel's first win as Chelsea boss was a 2-0 home win against Burnley. This would become the start of a record breaking run.

    After a continuation of wins in the league, as well as an impressive Champions League and FA Cup run, Tuchel reached an unbeaten run of 13 games, setting the record for the longest unbeaten run by a head coach in Chelsea's history.

    His unbeaten run was ended at 14 as his side lost 5-2 to West Bromwich Albion.

    Tuchel's Chelsea ended the 2020/21 season with mixed fortunes. The German guided the club to fourth in the Premier League, however they were beaten by Leicester City 1-0 in the final of the FA Cup.

    Two weeks later that Wembley disappointment was quickly forgotten as Chelsea won their second Champions League trophy after a 1-0 win over Manchester City in Porto.

    He led Chelsea to the 2021 Super Cup and Club World Cup crown in 2022, but struggled to break Manchester City's and Liverpool's stranglehold at the top of the Premier League as the club finished third in the 2021/22 season.

    Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel in September 2022 after a chastening 1-0 Champions League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb.

     

    Silverware at Bayern Munich

    Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich

    Despite his late arrival at the club, Tuchel still guided Bayern Munich to their 11th straight Bundesliga title following a dramatic finish in the final round of games.

    In what may be their sweetest title win of the past decade, Tuchel's men started the day two points adrift of pre-match leaders Borussia Dortmund.

    But the pressure told on Borussia and they only managed to draw 2-2 with Mainz, to make matters worse, Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller had a penalty saved.

    Meanwhile, Bayern won 2-1 away to FC Koln thanks to a late winner from Jamal Musiala in the 90th minute, which secured the first Bundesliga title of Tuchel's career.

    Tuchel admitted before the end of the season that the club had fallen well short of their expectations after their eliminations from both the UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal.

    "Our season will not be a cause for celebration. The points we've earned and the quality of our game will not meet our expectations. Regardless of the outcome, it will no longer be a satisfactory season," Tuchel said.

    Bayern's struggle to find a reliable and consistent scorer has plagued them since their esteemed striker Robert Lewandowski departed for Barcelona last summer.

    The acquisitions of Sadio Mane from Liverpool and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting failed to address the issue, as their performances fluctuated throughout the season.
     
    In February 2024, Bayern Munich announced that Tuchel would leave the club at the end of the season.

    His role had come under scrutiny following a woeful run of results that has left the Bundesliga champions missing out on winning a trophy since 2011/12.

    Bayern’s shock 3-2 defeat to Bochum in February meant they lost three games in a row for the first time since 2015.

    That followed a 3-0 setback at title rivals Bayer Leverkusen, who eventually won the Bundesliga title by seventeen points.

    Bayern finished third in the league, their worst league finish since 2010, and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

     

    England calling

    On October 16, 2024, Tuchel was confirmed as England’s new head coach, becoming the third non-Englishman to hold the post after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.

    Tuchel said on englandfootball.com: “I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team.

    “I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country, and it has given me some incredible moments already.

    “To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.”

    FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world, and Anthony Barry, who is one of the best English coaches, to support him. Our recruitment process has been very thorough.

    “Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria.

    “Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.

    “Fundamentally, we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.

    “I would like to thank Lee for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him – he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway.”

     

    Tuchel personal life

    Tuchel graduated from the University of Stuttgart with a degree in business administration, and previously worked as a bartender.

    He married his wife, Sissi, in 2009. The couple have two daughters.
     
     

    Net worth

    Thomas Tuchel will reportedly earn £5million a year with England, while is net worth is believed to be 27m.

     

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