Some people receive the most appreciation far away from home – and Thomas Tuchel believes he is one of those.
The former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain manager is in talks with the Football Association about becoming England’s next full-time boss.
If appointed, the German would become the third non-British permanent manager of the England men’s team after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
Tuchel would also have the challenge of trying to become just the second foreign coach to win a men’s World Cup or European Championship.
A control freak, the 51-year-old has been described as ‘charming’, an ‘incredible coach’, but also ‘divisive’.
One thing not in doubt, though, is Tuchel is a serial winner, having won league titles in Germany and France, and a Champions League trophy with Chelsea.
He has long since wanted a return to England after winning the Champions League, Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup between January 2021 and September 2022 with the Stamford Bridge side.
Tuchel believes England has treated him with more warmth and affection than his native Germany.
When he interacts with English journalists, even in his most recent tenure as Bayern Munich manager, he often comes across as a friendlier individual. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the meticulous coach is less concerned about finding the right words when speaking his second language.
In any case, Tuchel’s wish of returning to England might well come to fruition as the FA move a step closer to replacing interim boss Lee Carsley.
‘Exceptional with media & popular with fans’
If the FA is determined to sign a manager from the highest shelf of football, Tuchel has understandably been identified as a desirable target.
Of course, many in England remember the way he led Chelsea to the 2021 Champions League success – beating Manchester City in the final – only four months after taking over a rattled team from Frank Lampard.
During a time of uncertainty when previous owner Roman Abramovich had to cease control over the club in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Tuchel suddenly found himself in the quasi role as spokesperson of the Blues – and he did a commendable job.
“During his time at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel was exceptional with the English media, worked well with the club’s academy talent and was popular with supporters,” said Nizaar Kinsella, BBC Sport’s Chelsea correspondent.
“Many former players remain loyal and friendly with Tuchel but the pragmatic style of play sometimes led to criticism.”
On the contrary, Tuchel’s most recent endeavour at Bayern Munich left much more to be desired.
Tuchel and considerable parts of the team never seemed on good terms during his 14-month spell.
This has recently been reiterated with Vincent Kompany, Bayern’s new manager and Tuchel’s successor, receiving a lot of praise for how he is handling the dressing room and providing the Munich outfit with a new spark.
Whether Bayern’s slight downfall last season, which ended up being the first trophyless campaign in over a decade, was mainly Tuchel’s fault or not, the German manager can be a somewhat divisive figure.
‘Divisive’ Tuchel a ‘thinker’ but ‘irritable’
He has impressed with the way he dissects football and thinks about the game, but also sometimes comes off as easily irritable.
A 2012 presentation which later turned into a viral video “Rule Breaker” showed Tuchel explaining how he and his staff worked on transforming Bundesliga side Mainz into a fearsome attack-minded team.
He explained how he coached his players to pass the ball diagonally instead of simply down the wing.
And he explained how he and his assistant would analyse opponents and then adjust the team’s tactical approach from weekend to weekend.
Mainz enjoyed an incredibly successful and exciting spell, qualifying for the Uefa Europa League for the first time in their history after an impressive 2010-11 season. But a few years later, Tuchel and the club had a falling out.
“He is not an easy person, or easy to deal with, but I believe all good coaches are complicated,” said Christian Heidel, Mainz’s long-time executive and sporting director, told BBC Sport in 2021.
“Complicated means they are also tough. They make demands of those around them, their players from morning to night and for that reason, they are incredible coaches.”
A manager more suited to international football?
What may have contributed to his behaviour as a coach at times could be the fact he never reached his peak as a player.
In fact, Tuchel had to retire at the age of 24.
He then embarked on a course of business administration and was working as a waiter in a bar to make a bit of extra money.
He started doing his coaching badges and was offered a chance, crucially, by Ralf Rangnick to coach at youth level for Stuttgart.
He later helped current Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann, who played under Tuchel at Augsburg’s reserve team and was also forced to retire at a young age, by encouraging him to become a coach.
“Thomas was an outstanding, passionate player on the pitch, who gave his all, but sometimes he had few friends among his team-mates because he was so exacting and demanding, which didn’t go down well with some of the players,” Heiner Schuhmann, former Augsburg youth coach, told BBC Sport.
‘Yes…but’, are words that might well describe Tuchel best.
He has had success and enjoyed spells during which he received praise as being one of the best tacticians in Europe, even being compared to one of his former idols, Pep Guardiola.
But, at the same time, Tuchel tends to fall out with players and higher-ups or verbalises his demands from higher-ups in a less than diplomatic way.
“Tuchel can be incredibly charming and diplomatic, and can be entertaining and humorous,” Raphael Honigstein told BBC 5 Live. “At the same time, he can be a little bit harsh about his players and that doesn’t always go down well.”
Perhaps the less hectic world of international football, where Tuchel does not have to interact with the media on a daily basis and where he is not in constant contact with players and can instead thrive in analysing players and tactical approaches, might actually fit his personality quite well.
If the FA hires him, it must be accepted Tuchel may have his demands and even some quirks and more or less accept him the way he is.
