Thomas Tuchel is an urbane, affable and intelligent manager, part of an elite band of super coaches top clubs seek out when they need a fresh direction. Just don’t mention Jurgen Klopp.
That’s the advice of Christian Heidel, managing director at Mainz, who forged the German club’s rise from regional leagues to the Bundesliga and who gave both Klopp and Tuchel their big breaks.
Though Tuchel was not Klopp’s immediate successor at Mainz, only a year separated the end of the Liverpool manager’s reign there and the start of Tuchel’s ascent through the hierarchies of European football.