We now know that Thomas Tuchel masters some pictorial formulas of the French language.
It is indeed in a very flowery language that the German coach of PSG retorted Tuesday evening to a journalist's question on the supposed excitement of his team after the victory against Leipzig (1-0).
“Ask the locker room if you have the balls to do it,” the PSG coach was carried away.
Until now, Tuchel had hardly accustomed us to this kind of outings.
Rather "reliable" (one of his favorite words) in his practice of French, we can not really speak of a poorly mastered formula or a desire to create a buzz.
This familiar expression comes after other moments of tension with the media such as Tuesday evening at the microphone of RMC Sport, before the match against Rennes (3-0), this time on Canal +, or even just after the shootout victory on goal this summer in the Coupe de la Ligue final against Lyon.
So many situations that tell of a Thomas Tuchel, irritable and irritated, that the French are getting to know.
A coach at odds with the temperance and self-control he had shown during his first two seasons in Paris.
His probable end of contract next June and his mistrustful relationship with Leonardo, his sports director, do not offer him an ideal working environment.
It is a fact, for which he is partly responsible with its release at the end of October on the Paris transfer window.
"The media, he has to deal with but, for him, he doesn't need them"
Finally, the recurring questions and doubts about the low level of play of his team in the Champions League fuel his resentment, when he considers that injuries and the lack of rhythm are the main cause of the current mediocrity.
“In Mainz, but also in Dortmund, he already had problems with the media,” recalls Henning Kunz, editor at Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz.
Football is all he needs.
The media, he has to live with, but for him, he doesn't need them.
From the moment the reporters write how he should play and what he should do, that's the point of no return.
It is a key element and then you discover the other side of his personality.
He's a coach with two faces.
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Aware of his shortcomings in this area, Thomas Tuchel worked on his communication to the outside world after his experiences in Mainz and Dortmund.
A way of trying to erase his asperities and his annoyances against journalists who, he thinks, do not work enough.
At PSG, he surrounded himself with Philipp Schelb, a kind of special advisor.
This French-speaking German manages certain logistical aspects of the team, but he has often discreetly accompanied the coach in his public interventions.
This was not enough to avoid the return to the surface of a distant even scathing Tuchel vis-à-vis the media.
And not only.
“In Germany, we know his anger,” says Henning Kunz.
He's one of the best coaches in the world, and his problem isn't football, but his relationship with people, his way of reacting.
I spoke with players from Dortmund and Mainz who had a difficult relationship with him, he is capable of outbursts.
In Paris, love lasted two years.