MY ACCOUNT
Thomas Tuchel is determined to set the tone for his reign at Bayern Munich by knocking his old team Borussia Dortmund off their perch at the top of the Bundesliga.
The new Bayern head coach is braced for “a different dynamic” in next Saturday’s Klassiker, which could be the defining game of the German league season.
Dortmund hold a one-point lead after Bayern were beaten last weekend by Bayer Leverkusen, and there are only nine rounds of games remaining, ramping up the fixture’s significance.
Tuchel, whose appointment as successor to the sacked Julian Nagelsmann was made official on Friday, has already begun to receive messages from within the Dortmund camp.
He was boss at Dortmund from 2015 to 2017 and grew his reputation before being sacked amid behind-the-scenes disharmony.
After a year out, Tuchel was snapped up by Paris Saint-Germain, and he went on to win the Champions League with Chelsea before being fired last September, a decision the Stamford Bridge hierarchy might have reason to regret.
On Tuesday, Tuchel was called by Bayern and asked to be the man to save their season, with CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic fearing the campaign was coming off the rails.
Tuchel said at his introductory press conference on Saturday: “I was a bit naive in the first discussion. The ball dropped that this would start with a game against Borussia Dortmund. The expectation level couldn’t be higher.”
He said the game was “not about me”, but inevitably his presence adds spice to the Allianz Arena occasion.
“I got lots of messages and calls from staff at Borussia Dortmund saying they were looking forward to seeing me,” Tuchel added. “There will be a different dynamic because of how the table now stands.
“I’m proud to have BVB on my CV, but it’s not going to stop me dealing with the situation.”
Dortmund have been long-time chasers of Bayern, so to be ahead of them at this stage of the season is unusual.
Bayern have won the last 10 Bundesliga titles and are fearful of that running coming to an end. They could still finish with a treble, given they have reached the quarter-final stage of the DFB-Pokal and Champions League, so if all goes swimmingly Tuchel could have plenty to celebrate in May and June.
The 49-year-old has pledged to “go in with open eyes and try to do everything we can to win all three titles”.
He believes Bayern are suitably equipped to go after such silverware too.
“It’s only on Tuesday I started really thinking about the squad,” he said. “No one wants to play against a club like Bayern. It really got me excited for the job straightaway.”
Due to the international break, Tuchel will not see some of his squad until Friday, the day before Bayern tackle Borussia Dortmund in a top-of-the-table Klassiker.
He considered it “a surprising time” for Bayern to change coach and said he would not be making radical changes over the coming weeks, promising a “deeper analysis” would take place in good time.
He expects some players may consider his arrival “a new chance” and said he would prioritise “forming some faith on the pitch”.
“The fact is, I’m going to get feedback from players, but I don’t want to overload anyone,” Tuchel said. “The game that’s coming up is a very exciting proposition, how everyone wanted it. It’s my job to create a bit of anticipation as well.”
He is determined not to look back and instead only focus on what Bayern have ahead of them, labelling the Dortmund game “a chance to put the first exclamation mark out there”.
Asked about Nagelsmann, Tuchel spoke from experience when he said being sacked was “never nice”, having lost his jobs at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in frustrating circumstances.
“I think everyone knows that when you take over a job at a club like Bayern, things like this can happen,” Tuchel said. “I know it could be difficult for Julian Nagelsmann right now.”
He stressed though, that the sacking was “not my responsibility” and hopes to have convivial discussions with Nagelsmann somewhere down the line.
Tuchel has not yet picked up the phone to sound out Nagelsmann about the players he is inheriting.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful,” he said. “I start things on Monday, and I’m sure we’ll cross paths at some point and talk about things. My relationship with Julian, from my perspective, is impacted not one per cent.”
