Bayern Munich: Thomas Tuchel may stick with three man defense
The Bundesliga resumes this weekend after a two-week-long international break. Bayern Munich has largely dominated headlines during the international break due to the arrival of Thomas Tuchel. The Bavarian club parted with Julian Nagelsmann last Friday to appoint Tuchel as the new head coach.
Tuchel is well accustomed to Bundesliga since he had two successful stints with Borussia Dortmund and Mainz. The German coach went on to win trophies with Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the past few seasons. He will look to emulate similar success at Die Roten after signing a deal until the end of 2024/25.
The first assignment for Thomas Tuchel will be a game against his former team- Borussia Dortmund. Bayern will host their arch-rivals at Allianz Arena on Saturday. It is a crucial game in the context of the title race, as both teams are separated by a point. Die Roten needs to win this game to leapfrog Dortmund in the points table.
Thomas Tuchel had his first training session at Bayern on Tuesday. He will have his first proper session with all players on Thursday, as several international players returned on Wednesday. It does look like that Tuchel will not make any drastic changes to the system in his first game as Bayern coach.
According to TZ, Thomas Tuchel is likely to stick with a back three and use two wing-backs. Bayern has been playing in this system for the last two months. Julian Nagelsmann switched to a back three after Die Roten suffered three consecutive draws in the Bundesliga at the start of Ruckrunde.
Tuchel has successfully utilized this system at Chelsea, so it is not surprising to see him stick with the same formation for the first game. The German coach may fine-tune the system or switch it to a traditional back four once he gets to know more about his players in the coming days.
Three winners from Thomas Tuchel appointment. dark. Next
Want your voice heard? Join the Bayern Strikes team!
The report from TZ also reveals that Tuchel was impressed by Bayer Leverkusen’s use of 3-4-3 against Die Roten before the international break. Xabi Alonso was able to outwit Nagelsmann in this game to get a 2-1 win at Bay Arena. Tuchel’s first few games may well be influenced by the tactical takeaways from the game against Leverkusen.
Since Tuchel has not got a lot of time with the team, it is understandable to see him not make wholesale changes to the system and personnel. He needs to extract results and performances from the team in the next couple of months. His philosophy will be more evident on the pitch next season after having a proper pre-season with the players.