Why Thomas Tuchel should be the next Manchester United manager
A former Chelsea boss taking over after an FA Cup final at the end of a Dutchman's second season in charge at Old Trafford. Stop if you've seen this one before.
The writing is on the wall and, frankly, it has been from almost the moment the ink dried on Sir Jim Ratcliffe signature to take a (for now) minority stake at Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag will leave the club this summer with his position untenable after a mostly shambolic second season at the helm.
Nothing will be made public or briefed (hopefully) until after the cup final on May 25th, and as much as I hoped he could turn things around after a promising first 12 months in charge, it’s over.
Like basically any new owner, Ratcliffe and his team will want to install their own man in the hot seat. After much toing and froing, Thomas Tuchel feels like the most obvious and probably only choice.
Xabi Alonso was never a runner, Julien Nagelsmann is staying with Germany and Roberto De Zerbi’s stock has fallen hard in recent months.
Liverpool overlooked Ruben Amorim and it feels like United will too. The idea of Gareth Southgate, and Graham Potter to lesser extent, isn’t worth writing about further – surely not?
That almost leaves Tuchel as the favourite by default (according to the bookies anyway), but that would be to do a disservice to his undeniable qualities.
Sure, he’s fallen out with boards and players in most of his previous jobs but context matters.
Bayern Munich are in the midst of their biggest crisis in 15 years with wholesale changes taking place at the upper echelons of the club. Honorary club president Uli Hoeness calling out Tuchel before a Champions League semi-final only speaks to the issues there.
Alonso and Nagelsmann turning them down is a further indicator of the current environment in Bavaria, even if it doesn’t fully excuse their domestic downturn this year.
Todd Boehly’s chaotic reign at Chelsea has been discussed at length at this point, and who lasts long at Stamford Bridge anyway?
The same view can be applied to Paris Saint-Germain under their Qatari state ownership. It’s little wonder Kylian Mbappe is so adamant on leaving despite earning over €1m per week and having more power than any player ever should.
Bayern supporters started an online petition to keep Tuchel in charge (and to possibly keep Ralf Rangnick away). Blues fans would likely take the 50-year-old back in a heartbeat while he remains the only man (so far) to take PSG to a Champions League final.
At Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel was considered an exceptional trainer but “the biggest headache every day” by one unnamed employee at the former and he had major disagreements with several executives at the latter – he banned chief scout Sven Mislintat from the training ground at one point.
Again, though, does that point to structural issues and a difference in ambition, as well as a relentless drive to win?
These are all matters that have been evident at United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, but will aim to be rectified under Ratcliffe and INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford. The pair have already gone about making big changes.
Omar Berrada will start work as the club’s new CEO in the summer after moving across Manchester, while Dan Ashworth will assume the role of sporting director once he has finished tending to his garden and Newcastle relinquish their hold on him.
Jason Wilcox’s work as technical director has started and he will be the man tasked with summer recruitment, as well as the managerial decision alongside his former City colleague Berrada.
Tuchel’s problems at Chelsea began after Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech were let go under Boehly, leaving him with more transfer control than he wanted, while issues with former PSG chief Leonardo were well-known. Bayern also failed to sign the no. 6 both he and the team needed last summer.
Happier to coach than be a Jurgen Klopp-type manager, he could be well suited to United’s new intended structure that will see high-level, football people set the tone for recruitment and style of play among other important decisions.
And he can certainly coach. Throughout his career, he has proven himself to be one of Europe’s premier tacticians, capable of employing various formations and systems to suit the players at his disposal.
He was the only manager to really make Neymar and Mbappe work together, in a 4-3-3 with Angel Di Maria or Edinson Cavani. At Chelsea, he switched to three at the back and completely transformed the side en route to 2021 Champions League success – where he also had now-United misfit Mason Mount playing his best football.
Currently with Bayern he has again moved Joshua Kimmich to right-back and made Eric Dier work at centre-back, as well as making excellent half-time tactical adjustments in the first-leg draw with Real Madrid as he looks to make another final.
Tuchel is also regarded as a strong communicator, someone very sure of his ideas and not afraid of a challenge – just look at the clubs he has taken on.
He is a big personality suited to big-club management, and there is no more pressurised job than United, in England anyway.
These are characteristics that appear in line with Ratcliffe’s own personality and approach to business too. A yes man might be preferable for other reasons but surely everyone knows by now you need more to succeed at Old Trafford.
The German has the experience (both at big clubs and, equally important, in the Premier League), the credentials, and, according to some reports, the desire to manage what still remains England’s biggest club.
His words prior to Bayern’s 1-0 group stage back in December were also possibly telling, saying it was a “privilege” to be on the Old Trafford sideline, a stadium he labelled “one of the biggest stages in world football.”
Tuchel has already won three times on the ground – twice with PSG as well – but might his next game there see him in the home dugout?
There are shades of 2016 when Jose Mourinho took over from Louis van Gaal after an FA Cup win.
Hopefully, like his compatriot, ten Hag can sign off with a trophy, and unlike his fellow ex-Chelsea manager, Tuchel isn’t the latest to fail at restoring United to their perch.
Maybe there’s some wishful thinking involved, but his appointment seems a no-brainer right now.