Thomas Tuchel has to go to Paris Saint-Germain: this job was not a gift

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Thomas Tuchel is no longer PSG coach after two and a half in Paris

Photo: CHARLES PLATIAU / REUTERS

It was only four months ago that Paris Saint-Germain was in the final of the Champions League.

The team lost to Bayern Munich, but this final was the highlight of the club's history so far.

The reward for a multi-million dollar transfer offensive that the club has been running since the Qatari takeover in 2011.

This interim success was closely linked to the name Thomas Tuchel.

It was the German coach who found a system in which individual talents like Neymar and Kylian Mbappé could shine without completely neglecting the defensive.

So at the end of August, after that hard-fought final with many parades by Bayern's Manuel Neuer, they could have considered themselves lucky in Paris to have this coach.

After all, in two years Tuchel also won two championships and an average of 2.35 points in his 127 competitive games with PSG.

But instead of planning the future and the next attack on the handlebar pot, they did not want to get seriously involved with the coach.

The house they had built in August turned out to be a house of cards.

In the months that followed, two parties faced each other whose relationship was already tense before Lisbon: Tuchel and the team on the one hand and sporting director Leonardo and the club on the other.

At the end of long quarrels, the premature separation from Tuchel on Christmas Eve is apparently certain.

The end of the contract was set for the summer.

The separation has not yet been officially announced, but according to media close to the club such as "L'Équipe", the end is certain.

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Tuchel and Neymar narrowly miss the victory of the premier class

Photo: 

MIGUEL A. LOPES / AFP

Back to the high point of Lisbon: As soon as the tournament was over, new and old problems started again.

Numerous players came back from a short vacation with Corona, injuries from overuse increased because Ligue 1 started the new season straight away.

Sports director Leonardo and Tuchel fought in public about the transfer policy.

The coach complained that the club had not renewed with captain Thiago Silva, he was unhappy because the super talent Tanguy Nianzou was able to transfer to Bayern Munich on a free transfer, and Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier had not found an equivalent substitute.

Even Tuchel's noble joker and long-time companion Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting was now gone, also migrated to Munich.

Translated, Tuchel publicly announced to his superior Leonardo that he had done a bad job.

Their relationship was already strained before this summer.

“If the team stays like this,” Tuchel said during the transfer period, “we can no longer talk about the same goals.” And Leonardo, who is highly regarded by the club's bosses, shot back: “We didn't like that.

If someone is not happy when they decide to stay, they either have to stick to the sporting policy or the internal rules. "

Not even ready for a community of purpose

You will have to search for a long time in Thomas Tuchel's vita to find sporting failures.

Actually, it doesn't exist, not at his stations at BVB and in Mainz.

And this season - despite all the circumstances - his team is on course: Third in Ligue 1, one point behind the leaders, qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League.

There have already been games this season that were horrific to watch, the pre-deciding home game against RB Leipzig for a place in the round of 16 was one of those.

PSG missed numerous players due to injuries and defended 90 minutes - but Paris won the match.

Even when things got difficult, Tuchel usually found solutions.

That is why the separation from him cannot be one that fell for purely sporting reasons.

It seems like the result of an alienation between coach and club.

In the end, you weren't even ready for a community of convenience, because in the summer the Tuchel club could have let go of their contract, which ran until the end of June, without compensation.

But also the pressure in the French media - which Tuchel celebrated at the beginning of his time for having learned French so quickly - was growing: even before the Champions League tournament, Tuchel's severance payment in the event of an early separation was published in the summer, ten He and his coaching team should therefore collect millions of euros.

Because of the millions lost during the corona pandemic, it was considered impossible that PSG would be ready to take this step - provided that the sporting success is there.

He was there.

Watzke on Tuchel: "difficult person"

Another episode followed a few days ago.

»We never had the feeling that we had now convinced people and that they recognized our performance.

It also makes you a little sad or angry sometimes, ”said Tuchel at Sport1, defending his team against all critics.

Tuchel is certified as having a good relationship with his team.

But that doesn't seem to apply to the club.

Tuchel won the 2017 cup with BVB

Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa

Recently, Tuchel's former boss Hans-Joachim Watzke from Borussia Dortmund commented on Tuchel's situation.

He said in the podcast from ARD presenter Sandra Maischberger: »Thomas is a difficult person, you can now see that in Paris.

But a fantastic coach. "At the time, they split up" because it just didn't work out. "

To this day, Tuchel is the head coach with the best points average at BVB.

According to "L'Équipe", Tuchel's interview at Sport1 is said to have been very badly received by the club.

But it should not have been the decisive factor in the separation.

The report says: It was already certain that Tuchel would be released on Christmas Eve.

This job wasn't a gift, but Tuchel doesn't emerge as a loser from history in Paris either.

Only in the future, Tuchel will have to find a club that can cope with it if he gets offended.

With Mauricio Pochettino, the next coach is apparently already available, who is currently unemployed, is technically outstanding, to whom many enthusiasts among the major European clubs are attributed - it is understandable to strike here quickly if you don't want to continue with Tuchel anyway.

Pochettino is also one who was already under contract as an active player at PSG.

Perhaps the warmth of the nest is the better prerequisite for a commitment to this club.

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