It has been clear since Wednesday that Thomas Tuchel’s job as head coach of FC Bayern ends on June 30th. But there is still a lot of time until then – and he has a lot planned.
“Clarity brings freedom!” That was Thomas Tuchel’s mantra on Friday. The current FC Bayern coach didn’t seem particularly tense or like a listless “lame duck” when he answered questions at the press conference before the game against Rasenballsport Leipzig.
Video | This is how Tuchel reacts to his exit from Bayern
Yet something was different. Because the starting point is different. Tuchel can now “be a little more ruthless,” said the 50-year-old. “You no longer have to weigh up what the long-term effect will be. You can coach it like a cup game.” Tuchel wants to see his team perform differently than last week. There were three defeats in Leverkusen (0:3), Rome (0:1) and Bochum (2:3).
In order to win against Leipzig on Saturday (from 6:30 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online), he now has to pay little attention to the sensitivities of players who he wants to have on his side in the long term. Tuchel can and wants to decide freely. Maybe after the game you’ll say: You haven’t seen him like this since he took over in Munich almost a year ago.
Whereabouts? “Not sure if that was an option”
While formation, handling and planning change, his ambition remains unchanged, said the 2020 Champions League winner: “It doesn’t matter whether I have a contract for five weeks or five years. I will do the job with the same energy .”
What was also in the room on Friday was the question of how Tuchel himself thinks about his exit. When asked by t-online whether the coach would have left on his own initiative in the summer, he replied with a smile: “I’m not sure whether that option was there, I’m just an employee at the club.”
Tuchel was also self-critical, but also emphasized: “I think that I’m not the only problem. But I have a responsibility and I’ll take it on.”
The list of failures is long
He shares the responsibility for a win on Saturday with the team that will be on the pitch. However, he cannot implement many experiments in the lineup. The list of players who are out is long. Sacha Boey, Noussair Mazraoui, Kingsley Coman, Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies and Serge Gnabry are missing. Only Konrad Laimer returns and is expected to be in the squad. So Tuchel has to rely largely on the players who fell short of expectations last week.
But that shouldn’t be an excuse. “It really has to be clear to everyone that we have to push ourselves to the limit physically and mentally,” said Tuchel.
The club management will look closely at which players are fully invested and which are not. There could be a major change in the summer that should get Bayern back on the road to success. The 50-year-old did not want to reveal who is particularly in focus and where Tuchel sees the problems. “Those responsible know my analysis. It is a very self-critical analysis, but not an analysis for the public,” he clarified.