Both Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp, the managers of Mainz and Borussia Dortmund in Germany, took similar paths to the top of their respective fields.
Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel is “irritated” by comparisons to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, a former colleague has revealed.
Axel Schuster was head of first team football at Mainz between 1992 and 2016 and worked closely with both Tuchel and Klopp during their time in charge of the club. Klopp managed Mainz for seven years, leading them back to Bundesliga, before leaving to join Borussia Dortmund in 2008.
Tuchel, meanwhile, took charge of Mainz in 2009 and went on to succeed Klopp at Dortmund in 2015. As a result of their similar paths in management, Tuchel has naturally been compared to Klopp throughout his career – something Schuster says “irritated” him.
In an interview with Goal, Schuster revealed: “It didn’t annoy him, it irritated him – for two reasons. Firstly, because he was often portrayed in public as a Klopp pupil. That’s not true at all, the two were never at Mainz at the same time.
Secondly, because comparisons were usually only made in the area in which Klopp has his absolute strengths: closeness to the people. Klopp makes people feel very close to him, even when they aren’t.
“Tuchel, on the other hand, exhausts himself in his original work as a coach in such a way that apart from that he only has energy for his family. He then no longer has the energy to present himself as close to the people
On the other hand, no comparisons were made where Tuchel performed better than Klopp: hard facts such as points or table positions.” Speaking back in 2021, Tuchel said he and Klopp are “not half as close as everybody thinks” and that the comparison “does not tell the truth”.
He told Sky Sports News : “It’s nice to be compared because he’s one of the best coaches in Europe. On one hand it’s nice because it tells you you’ve reached a certain level, and then at some point, it’s not nice because it does not tell the truth.
“I like him a lot and I am full of respect and we have good times when we meet in coaches’ meetings, there is no doubt about it, but we are not half as close as everybody thinks.
