Philipp Lahm: Thomas Tuchel is a good tactician – but his tendency towards conflict could be damaging

How will Thomas Tuchel do as head coach of England? I will be really interested to find out.

When Tuchel became a Bundesliga coach at Mainz, he was just 35, but his obsession with tactics was immediately clear. In fact, the detail of his approach influenced how we talked about the game — that’s why everyone in Germany was suddenly talking about having a ‘match plan’ and still does to this day.

But Tuchel was also able to assert himself at larger clubs. In Dortmund, he established a clear playing style. He took up Jurgen Klopp’s approach of transitioning quickly after winning the ball to surprise the opponent in unsettled moments. Fast players such as (Marco) Reus, (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang and (Ousmane) Dembele benefited from this in particular.

However, Tuchel placed a stronger emphasis on possession and build-up play. This combination — speed and control — led Dortmund to win the DFB-Pokal in 2017 and it is still the style he is associated with today.

With Paris Saint-Germain, he reached the final of the Champions League, and he won it with Chelsea after just four months. Both situations were descriptive because they showed different strengths — indicating he had a charisma that allowed him to communicate his tactical message clearly and quickly and with high-profile players. Tuchel was the first coach to reach the final with two clubs in two years, which was a really significant accomplishment.

But it does not always go well for him and when it fails, it’s never because of tactics, but rather interpersonal relationships.

His departure from Mainz was fractious. In Dortmund, there were conflicts with the club management, in Paris, with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and at Chelsea, with Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital after they bought the club.

No matter where he works, tensions seem to arise at some point. Apart from Mainz (2009 to 2014), Tuchel has never stayed anywhere for three years.

His biggest problem at Bayern was also not a sporting one, but the lack of connection with leading players such as Thomas Muller or Leon Goretzka, and the chemistry with Harry Kane was probably not perfect either. In the summer of 2023, when he demanded a new ‘holding No 6’ in midfield, he annoyed Joshua Kimmich by telling the media that Kimmich didn’t have the defensive DNA for the role.

In Munich, a coach has to be diplomatic or clever. Pep Guardiola and Vincent Kompany never express dissatisfaction publicly. Tuchel tends to. That can lead to problems.

The adventure in England is a great task, but a difficult one. The Premier League may be the best league in the world, but the key positions are mostly occupied by international players. Manchester City have Rodri in defensive midfield, Arsenal have Martin Odegaard as a No 10, Liverpool have Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah.

England has many talented players but few leaders, apart from Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham — the latter two are still growing into the roles internationally — and this shortcoming shows in the decisive games and moments. Perhaps that’s why Tuchel called up Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker for his first squad.

In Germany, we understand this phenomenon of a strong national league counteracting the success of a national team, albeit in a different sport. Handball is extraordinarily popular here — the Handball-Bundesliga is arguably the strongest in Europe — and yet Germany have won only two world titles in the past 50 years, partly because the league is so attractive to international players.

One of the challenges for Tuchel will be the gap between the expectations of fans and the media, conditioned by the Premier League, and the relative global level of some of the players. This can lead to a bad atmosphere and a negative dynamic — and I felt that Gareth Southgate often suffered for this, being harshly criticised even though he made England competitive again after years of chaos, reaching the European Championship final twice in a row.

This mood could also become a burden for Tuchel.

Tuchel during Friday’s 2-o win against Albania (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

In general, working with national teams is completely different.

As a club coach, you have daily contact with your players, can rehearse every detail and mould a system over months. Tuchel favours a 4-2-3-1 with a stable back six and a creative 10. He attaches great importance to positional play, organised build-up play and vertical switching, and club football has allowed him to be extremely successful.

In a national team, on the other hand, you rarely see your players, sometimes not at all for months. The cohesion of the system suffers. So, it’s all about forming a unit and quickly creating a vision that everyone buys into.

A national coach must be a moderator with a great feel for his players. He must create a hierarchy by identifying and then strengthening leaders within the group. Southgate knew how to create a harmonious environment. Tuchel, on the other hand, is more demanding and much more of a perfectionist. His tendency towards conflict — and in public — could be damaging.

As a player, I experienced both environments and their differences: the long-term, systematic development of a team at Bayern and the more spontaneous atmosphere of a national team. At the club, time allows automatisms and structure to become habit. In the national team, players who come from different clubs have to come together within a few days.

There are also country-specific differences.

There is a virtual monopoly in German club football: Bayern. Half the national team often plays there. As was the case for our 2014 World Cup team. Back then, I had existing chemistry with Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The understandings we developed in Munich were exportable and essential for our success in Brazil.

There are other kinds of advantages Tuchel and England do not have.

In Spain, the national team benefits from the homogeneous playing idea, the attacking and technically orientated combination football. It runs through the training programme and the league as a whole. When good individual players are added to that mix, the Spaniards are always tournament favourites because they have that in-built familiarity. They dominated Euro 2024 thanks to their identity and they will also be one of the teams to beat at the 2026 World Cup.

Tuchel at an England training session last week (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)

Italian football also has a uniform approach, albeit a defensive, less proactive one. This results in fluctuations. The Italians have recently failed to qualify for the World Cup twice, but in good years they can win a tournament, as in 2021. Italy’s style of football is designed to defend, not to conquer. This means two things: on the one hand, the national team is difficult to beat. But on the other hand — this explains some of the inconsistencies — that can make them vulnerable against lesser nations.

France’s national team, on the other hand, thrives on its huge reservoir of talent. No other nation has more outstanding individualists. They have been led for a decade by a competent coach, Didier Deschamps, who already won everything with his country as a player.

The English, on the other hand, lack these things: a well-rehearsed block and a distinctive modern playing culture. Southgate was often blamed for playing cautiously in recent tournaments, but his critics overlooked the fact he did not have the same prerequisites as his coaching colleagues from the other four major European countries.

Will Thomas Tuchel get more out of it? Is he the right man for England? His knowledge as a tactician is unquestionable, but he has yet to prove that he has the skills needed in his new role.

That doesn’t mean he can’t grow into it. A German who brings England another title after 60 years and becomes a national immortal? That would be a great story for our two footballing nations.

(Top photo: Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)