Will Tuchel suit Three Lions? A look at his past
Thomas Tuchel has plenty of experience at the highest level with Borussia Dortmund, Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
He has shown himself to be tactically flexible, taking over from the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Unai Emery and Julian Nagelsmann and tweaking the systems he inherited with some success. Here we look at how he has managed his previous top-level teams.
Borussia Dortmund
Faced with the unenviable task of taking over from Jurgen Klopp, Tuchel retained the 4-3-3 formation, occasionally amending it to 4-2-3-1, but the biggest change was in turning Dortmund from a side who capitalised on transitions to one which placed a greater significance on possession with a longer build-up. His preference was for one defensive midfielder with two others pushing on, thereby not requiring the full-backs to overlap.
Paris St Germain
Again he inherited Emery’s 4-3-3 and mostly kept faith with it, although he did sometimes experiment with 4-2-2-2.
What he had in Paris which he did not in Dortmund was a world-class forward line in Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria that saw the emphasis shifted further up the pitch. Attacking width was provided by the full-backs, a front three playing narrower and PSG’s overall dominance in Ligue 1 meant Tuchel was able to employ a high press more successfully.
Chelsea
Having assessed the options available to him Tuchel immediately switched to a back three, which became his default.
He deployed a double-pivot in midfield and used either two number 10s in support of a lone striker or played two up front. Wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell – who will be hoping to catch their former manager’s eye again – were pushed forward but out of possession often dropped into a back five. Tuchel was dubbed ‘Tommy Tactics’ by Chelsea fans for his sophisticated tactical ploys and earned considerable credit for getting the better of Pep Guardiola in the Champions League final five months after arriving.
Bayern Munich
Tuchel reverted to using a back four, the established norm, in Munich and won the Bundesliga in his first season. In his second year, new signing Harry Kane became the focal point of the team as Tuchel played to his strengths, which resulted in a record 44 goals in 45 games for the England captain. However, at the other end, a high defensive line caused them problems and that, combined with a generational Bayer Leverkusen team, saw the title slip from their grasp.
