Tuchel introduces himself to Bayern and praises the squad: “One of the best in Europe”

The new coach of Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel, said he was “completely surprised” by the interest shown by the club and praised the squad, which has the possibility of winning all the titles this season.

As on great occasions, it was at the Allianz Arena that Bayern presented this Saturday Tuchel, their new coach until 2025, as the small press room at the Munich club’s headquarters, on Säbener Strasse, would not be able to accommodate the approximately twenty chambers present.

On Friday, at the end of the afternoon, Bayern had announced the dismissal of coach Julian Nagelsmann, who had a contract until 2026, after a complicated dynamic in the Bundesliga (five wins, two defeats and three draws), ceding the lead to Borussia Dortmund. after losing away from home to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday (2-1), nine days from the end of the season.

Behind the scenes of Thomas Tuchel’s first day at #FC Bayern.

🎥 https://t.co/m3RXPT3y51 #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/bpMxHLzw9J

— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayern) March 25, 2023

unexpected contact

This Saturday, Thomas Tuchel entered the auditorium, along with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and executive chairman Oliver Kahn, and confessed his astonishment when the Bayern board made the first contacts, which began on Tuesday night and ended just over 48 hours later.

“Believe it or not, I was a little lost in the first thirty seconds of our first conversation. I didn’t know what we were talking about. It quickly became clear that it was time to start now,” explained Tuchel.

“I was completely surprised. I didn’t count on that on Tuesday. There had been no contact before,” added the coach, champion of the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.

The coach, born in Krumbach, in southwest Germany, about 100 km from Munich, was fired from Chelsea in September 2022 from his position and has been without a club since then.

Smiling, Tuchel said he was thinking of pursuing a career abroad, with interest, according to the press, from Real Madrid and Tottenham, when Bayern called him.

With the Munich team, “the DNA is known, it has the obligation to win and there can be no misunderstandings about that”.

“The squad is one of the most talented and one of the best in Europe right now. It’s a huge challenge,” he insisted. For him, “when you are signed by Bayern, it is to fight for all the titles and win as many as possible”.

Bayern are still in contention in three competitions this season: in the Champions League, with a double clash against Manchester City in the quarter-finals, in the German Cup, with a quarter-final duel against Freiburg, and in the Bundesliga, where only one point behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Debut against Dortmund

Tuchel arrives at the helm of Bayern in the midst of the Fifa Date break, and will not be able to count on all his players until Friday. His first training session with athletes who are currently not with any team is scheduled for Monday.

In his first game of the season in charge of Bayern, Tuchel will face his former club, Borussia Dortmund, on Saturday, April 1, in a decisive derby in the fight for this season’s title (Dortmund have 53 points, one more than Bayern).

“It’s the game with a capital letter in German football. And it gains new importance”, evaluated Tuchel, who spent at Borussia Dortmund between 2015 and 2017, before transferring to Paris Saint-Germain (2018-2020) and Chelsea (2021). -2022).

Before presenting the new coach, Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic justified, with a serious face for about thirty minutes, their “unpopular” decision to sack Julian Nagelsmann, denying that it was a “panic reaction”.

After the defeat in Leverkusen (2-1, with two goals from the opposing team’s penalty), the managers analyzed the situation and came to the conclusion that the “performance curve” was oriented downwards. “The situation between the coach and the team didn’t work anymore,” said Hasan Salihamidzic.