Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel is a German professional football coach and former player. He most recently managed Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Tuchel played in the 2. Bundesliga for Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992 and 1993. His playing career ended at age 25, as a result of a chronic knee cartilage injury. In 2000, he began his coaching career, working for the youth teams at VfB Stuttgart.

About Thomas Tuchel in brief

Summary Thomas TuchelThomas Tuchel is a German professional football coach and former player. He most recently managed Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Tuchel played in the 2. Bundesliga for Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992 and 1993. His playing career ended at age 25, as a result of a chronic knee cartilage injury. In 2000, he began his coaching career, working for the youth teams at VfB Stuttgart. In 2009, following a successful one-year period at FC Augsburg II, he was hired by newly promoted Bundesliga club Mainz 05. He guided Mainz to league stability during his five seasons at the club, and gained plaudits for his brand of energetic, attacking football. He left Mainz in 2014, and in 2015, was appointed at fellow Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, where he won the DFB-Pokal before being fired in 2017. In 2018, he won two league titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to its first ever UEFA Champions League final. However, Tuchel was dismissed in 2020. He is also known for his controversial relationships with his employers, and has been involved in a number of high-profile off-the-field incidents. He has been linked with a move to Premier League side Manchester United. He also played for German side FC Augburg, before being released after turning 19 in 1988. He made 69 appearances for the club until being forced to retire in 1998, aged 25, after suffering a kneecartilage injury, and joined SSV Ulm in 1993.

In 2005, he returned to Augsburg, and was provided with the role of youth team co-ordinator. He held the position for three years, eventually transitioning into management after being offered the position as first team coach at Augustsburg II for the 2007–08 season. In 2008, he took over from Jürgen Klopp as manager of Mainz, taking over from Klopp at the end of the previous season. His time as the coach of Augburg II impressed many top-level German clubs, and he moved to Bundesliga clubMainz 05 in 2009. He instructed the team to utilize long distribution and focus on pressing off the ball, typically overloading one portion of the opposition half in order to create less space to generate counter-attacking opportunities. The composition of the squad was seen in Tuchel’s tactical approach, as despite possessing technically inferior players, he instructed them to utilize a team that was adept at creating a respectable first-placed finish. In 2010, he also housed promising youth players, such as André Ádám Szalai and André Schürrle, at first-team club, Mainz. In 2011, he helped the club enjoy a perfect start to the season, enjoying seven wins in their first seven games, including an away victory over Bayern Munich. This allowed him to address deficiencies from previous season, where Mainz often saw an inability to break down defensively.