The Case Against Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel is on borrowed time as coach at FC Bayern Munich. He has not been able to win over bosses, players and fans.
The question is if the bosses already have a vision and a clear job profile for his successor.
Great coaches are able to rally club management, players and fans behind their leadership style. Tuchel has not been able to do that anywhere consistently in recent history.
Trust, a key ingredient for success, when managing up, down and across, has not been established this ‘long’ into Tuchel’s tenure at Bayern.
The new CEO, Jan Dreesen, will have these issues on his radar. He started his job with a mission to bring trust and respect back into the club to guarantee long term success. Something that his predecessor Kahn failed at miserably.
Recent events have shown that Tuchel is extremely thin skinned for someone in his position at such a club. Instead of ignoring public criticism from the media (as he officially proclaimed doing days prior) he used three separate press events, before and after the game against Dortmund, to do nothing other than throw hissy fits at individuals from the media because of their criticism of his work.
Instead of taking the high road and talking about the team and its performance after the game, he made all interviews about himself. Something the late CEO, Oliver Kahn, was very good at - to his own demise.
Especially after the convincing and victorious performance against Dortmund, Tuchel could have used the chance to build trust with the team by demonstrating that he isn’t phased by criticism, but instead is focused on long term improvements.
FC Bayern was kicked out of the DFB cup this season (the second time in 7 months for Tuchel) by a team at the bottom of the 3rd tier. Criticism was absolutely legitimate. But instead of taking ownership, Tuchel behaved like a narcissist teenager.
In press interviews he acted sarcastic, full of irony, and even walked away from one mid-interview. Appearances like these drown the excitement of the victory, talk about his vision for the team and the accomplishment of the squad, in discussions about his persona.
His time at BVB, Chelsea and PSG has shown that he doesn’t have a tendency to build lasting relationships with his bosses and stakeholders. Discussions about his complaints regarding player quality, not having the backing of the team, and lack of trust in his persona, have cost him the job many times, despite showing great performances and even winning the Champions League with Chelsea.
One would think that Tuchel has learned from the past. However, he arrived at Bayern and continued where he left off. He started complaining about the lack of squad completeness and quality since day one. He missed a chance to build trust with the players and establish a clear hierarchy in the squad when he started publicly questioning their competencies. Discussions about the lack of a ‘holding six’ are still going on 7 months into his tenure, despite the fact that with Josua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka he has at least two world champions in their prime years at his disposal. Experienced national players that have trained and evolved under legendary coaches such as Heynkes, Hitzfeld and Guardiola, and have proven themselves as part of the team that won the sixtuple with Bayern Munich and the world championship.
Tuchel talked down his players’ ability to play a ‘holding six’, eroding trust in their abilities and team hierarchy, with Joshua Kimmich a third captain. Instead of focusing on the fact that the situation is at is it, and empowering his team that he believes they can succeed regardless, he continues to double down and complain. Never mind that he has a goal guarantor with Englands captain as number 9, and arguably one of the best goalies in the world with Manuel Neuer. That he got an amazing defensive lineup of players and Germany’s most promising rising star in his ranks. Never mind that the team is able to pull off impressive Champions League wins and performances like the 4-0 against Dortmund, even with most of the midfield injured.
And he never ceased the complaints, instead opening new cans of worms by holding a public dispute with the clubs honorary president, arguably the most accomplished figure in German football, and the person most closely responsible for the success story of what FC Bayern is today.
It is also true that Tuchel has not been able to stabilise the team’s defensive performances. Something he carried over since last season and a problem many expected to have been solved by the time this season’s first title, the Super Cup, was lost. Lost in a shocking display of lack of confidence in itself, due likely to the missing belief of a clear vision from Tuchel, who had a full period of pre-season prep to build on.
Tuchel can also bring out the best in players. A prime example is Leroy Sane, who, combined with Harry Kane, has flourished this season, delivering peak performances. But Tuchel is still on the sidelines, complaining, collecting yellow cards for it. In this brief season, it is already talk of the town. Players have to answer why it is their coach that already collected three yellows this season.
Thomas Tuchel can win titles with Bayern, get teams to compete at the highest level, and win the Champions League. But he is standing in his own way to become one of the great coaches of our time. He is on borrowed time at Bayern unless he steps out of his own shadow ASAP.