Bayern Munich have officially presented Thomas Tuchel as their new coach after abruptly showing Julian Nagelsmann the door. In his first ever press conference as the Bavarians’ tactician, he touched on the subject of Nagelsmann’s sacking.
“I can certainly empathize with him, but it’s not my responsibility”, Tuchel said (as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia). “Contact with him? Certainly not right away. I don’t want to be disrespectful. It doesn’t help me to have his point of view now either. At some point our paths will cross and we’ll talk”.
Like everyone when they heard the news, Tuchel was surprised (like Antonio Conte was during THAT handshake) when he heard that his predecessor was vacated from his post when Bayern were in a good position in the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
“The timing was surprising, I didn’t expect it and there was no contact beforehand”, the 49-year-old former Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea FC coach detailed. “I assumed that I would continue my career abroad. The first interview was on Tuesday evening. The size of the challenge was the deciding factor that I wanted to do it.”
Tuchel was apparently in contact with Bayern before, but didn’t take the job because he couldn’t wait and wouldn’t want to pressure someone into making a decision. “I’ve been in very close contact with Bayern before, but back then I couldn’t wait”, Tuchel recalled. “It would never be appropriate to pressure anyone. Things went very quickly this time, it’s a top solution for me”.