They are the two highest paid coaches in Ligue 1, two of the stars of the bench in Europe.
Thomas Tuchel on the PSG side and André Villas-Boas on the OM side meet again this Sunday evening.
Face to face between two strong personalities whose approach to the profession differs greatly.
Tuchel, football is his obsession
His life, his career.
Secret character, Thomas Tuchel gladly maintains the mystery of his private life.
On Sissi, ex-employee of a publishing house, on her two daughters, as well as on her existence off the field.
Like his diploma in business administration, his experience as a bartender in a hip-hop bar in Stuttgart, his passion for Montaigne and reading, the native of Krumbach, a small town in Bavaria, is a plural character.
Cultivated, he loves the theater.
He is also represented, not by a sports agent but by a manager of singers and television stars.
A true ascetic, he does not drink or smoke and has the reputation of being a vegetarian.
Sports enthusiast, he regularly plays tennis and sometimes travels by… skate-board.
His relationship to others.
Again, Tuchel is a two-sided individual.
Charming in front of the cameras since his arrival in France, it is with the reputation of a detestable genius, of uncompromising nonconformist that Tuchel left Germany.
Angry party and before the end of his contract in Mainz as in Dortmund, some of his former leaders or players stigmatize his volcanic character.
At the Camp des Loges, however, we describe a smiling man, never stingy with a small courteous gesture towards the staff.
Demanding with his staff, he however relaxed.
After some famous snags, especially with Kylian Mbappé, he had the intelligence to accept certain deviations from his group to get the best out of them.
His vision of football.
It is no coincidence that Thomas Tuchel is a follower of Bob Wilson, director of the avant-garde New York scene.
Like him, the German aims to revolutionize his discipline.
If he does not have the popularity rating of Jürgen Klopp, he has the reputation of enjoying a wider tactical palette.
Obsessed with the ball, he is a researcher, driven by the desire to improve his sessions, his tactical approach and the efficiency of his troops.
One reason why he has notably established strict dietary rules, banning sugar and fat.
Disciple of Guardiola, the man and his method were dubbed by the Catalan who wrote in a book that "if Germany one day converts to the game of position, it will be to the credit of Tuchel".
Villas-Boas will have several lives
His life, his career.
Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas.
This is the full name of the Marseille coach, whose bourgeois origins are no secret.
A descendant of aristocrats, the 42-year-old man enjoyed a privileged childhood before betting everything on football.
Before his 18 years, a meeting with Sir Bobby Robson, former coach of Porto and Barça, for whom he wrote reports, puts him in the stirrup.
Behind, he starts an experience as a coach ... of the British Virgin Islands at 22 (hiding his age at the start).
Globe-trotter, Villas-Boas learns alongside José Mourinho, with whom the relationship has weakened over the years, before emancipating itself.
Married and father of three children, Villas-Boas appreciates airing the mind away from lawns, thanks to travel or art, which he likes to discover in museums.
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See you soon little angels 😊❤️
A post shared by André Villas-Boas (@officialandrevillasboas) on Aug 6, 2020 at 10:48 am PDT
His relationship to others.
When things don't please him, André Villas-Boas lets it know, using the media in particular, with whom the relations are friendly.
The ears of President Jacques-Henri Eyraud whistled during the departure of OM sports director Andoni Zubizarreta.
An accomplished polyglot (Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French), Villas-Boas delivers its messages frankly both internally and externally.
At OM, "he has all the support of the locker room," said Dimitri Payet.
"He is very attentive, is interested in others," confides Secretario, coach of Créteil (National), who knew Villas-Boas in Porto.
Everyone considers him to be a top coach, both close and very direct.
"
His vision of football.
Villas-Boas does not imagine himself in the world of football for very long.
Before his fiftieth birthday, he will have changed horizons: “I have always said that I wanted to do fifteen years in football.
I am at ten.
Afterwards, I have other ambitions in life ”.
Passionate about motorsports, Villas-Boas has already practiced in the legendary Paris-Dakar in 2018. Ambassador of the Laureus Foundation, he uses his notoriety for charitable fights that are close to his heart.
His last challenges in football?
Villas-Boas has always dreamed of participating in a World Cup as a coach.
He also does not rule out a future as a manager at FC Porto, his club always.
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#throwbackthursday to Dakar Rally 2018 racing for my charities and their beautiful causes @aceafrica @appacdmdoporto @laureussport an unforgettable experience 😊 #dakar #raceforgood #donate #tbt
A post shared by André Villas-Boas (@officialandrevillasboas) on Mar 7, 2019 at 10:15 am PST