England candidate Thomas Tuchel is confrontational ex-Chelsea boss who once made player crawl on all fours as punishment

THOMAS Tuchel is the combustible figure who has managed to fall out with the hierarchy at EVERY job he has been in.

The German football manager, 51, is now the hot favourite take over the vacant England job.

Talks are ongoing with the ex-Chelsea boss’s representatives over taking the reins of the Three Lions and the FA appear to be hopeful of getting their man.

They add Tuchel could quickly be confirmed in the role if negotiations progress well.

However, exact terms for his contract are yet to be agreed.

But be warned, it could be a bumpy ride with Tuchel in charge who has a habit of epic rows with senior figures, his players, and even rival coaches.

That escalated quickly…

Serial winner, yes. But at what cost?

Tuchel had already made a name for himself at Mainz as being a difficult personality, when he took on the Borussia Dortmund job.

He reportedly demanded more investment in team, and when he didn’t get what he wanted he walked away from his job.

Dortmund hired him in 2015 to replace club favourite, Jurgen Klopp.

Soon, though, players were unhappy with his man-management skills.

And although he won the German Cup, his time there is best-remembered for the bust-ups he had.

There were disagreements with senior players, including Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Roman Weidenfeller.

With Hummels he criticised his performance after a game.

“Mats can do better,” Tuchel explained on why he substituted him in the 78th minute of their DFB Pokal final in May 2016 against Bayern.

But the best was yet to come.

A disagreement with forward Emre Mor resulted in one of the most extraordinary punishments a manager could have dished out.

Miffed that Mor would question his methods, Tuchel employed his fitness coach to make the Turkish forward crawl across the pitch on his hands and knees as a punishment for not working hard enough.

When the youngster complained, Tuchel barked: “Shut your mouth! Shut your mouth! Shut your mouth!”

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc also had their issues with Tuchel during his two-year tenure.

The coach was unhappy when the club signed Newcastle forward Alexander Isak, claiming in a press conference he knew nothing about the deal.

Then, when a Champions League fixture against Monaco had to be rearranged because of a bombing on the team bus, Watzke rearranged the game 24-hours later, ensuring the players were fine with this arrangement.

Tuchel wasn’t. He moaned publicly and said the decision for the match to be played was made for them, and wasn’t his decision.

Watzke later revealed that Tuchel had an opportunity to say he didn’t want the clash to happen but kept quiet.

Just days after he won the German cup for the club, Tuchel was sacked with Watzke saying he was “worn out” dealing with the manager.

Leaving Germany behind

After leaving his homeland, PSG decided Tuchel was the top man to replace the successful and harmonious Unai Emery.

Largely, there were few disagreements – given he inherited a squad chock-a-block of the game’s biggest superstars.

He got on well with Neymar, and there was just once spat with Kylian Mbappe who he confronted after the France forward showed his dismay at being subbed off.

Tuchel’s problem at PSG was sporting director, Leonardo. In an interview, he compared his job to being a sports politician and not a coach.

The former AC Milan star didn’t like that, and when Leonardo insisted the club signed midfielder Danilo Pereira – Tuchel played the Brazilian in defence in protest because he wanted a centre half instead.

Despite winning the treble, he was dismissed in 2021.

London calling

In 2021, Tuchel was hired by Chelsea to replace Frank Lampard.

He inherited a team that had a healthy mix of experienced players, leaders and young fledgling talents.

The team got to the FA Cup final, losing to Leicester City 1-0.

However, they would land a bigger trophy – winning the Champions League a month later beating Man City thanks to a Kai Havertz goal.

Trouble began to brew when Chelsea were taken over by Todd Boehly.

He was already reportedly tetchy during their preseason tour of the US – blasting his players for their performances in Chelsea’s friendlies.

According to the Telegraph, Tuchel was unhappy with being given extra responsibilities in terms of buying, selling and negotiating for players.

Then, on another occasion when Boehly was insistent Chelsea should move for Cristiano Ronaldo, the tactician was said to be exasperated having to explain his decisions why they shouldn’t buy him.

Tuchel was reportedly dismayed that former technical and performance advisor Petr Cech left the club after the takeover.

The German also publicly revealed he had no involvement in the appointment of a new Sporting Director at the club, which revealed a distance between him and the new ownership.

A separate report in The Independent claimed Tuchel’s romance with Brazilian girlfriend Natalie Max, 13-years his junior, was a hot topic in the dressing room.

It was claimed some players changed their perception of Tuchel around the time he split with Sissi after 13 years of marriage.

If it wasn’t his players, or bosses, Tuchel was also having fallouts with rival managers – infamously squaring off with Antonio Conte after refusing to let go his hand following a handshake.

It happened again…

He lasted just 20 months in his role at Chelsea, but beat that by six months at Bayern Munich.

Again, his man-management style seemed to irk the superstars at the club dubbed ‘Hollywood FC’.

BILD were the first to report of a division between the manager and his playing staff.

Bayern stalwarts Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich were the loudest to voice their discontent.

Forward Muller was believed to be frustrated by his lack of playing behind-the-scenes under Tuchel – who didn’t feel the Germany legend could fit into his tactical plans.

With Kimmich, it was a little different – and, perhaps, more personal.

The relationship began to unravel when Tuchel wanted to bring in a midfielder to play in Kimmich’s role.

The 29-year-old was fuming, and told to play in the right-back position.

Then, in a match against Bochum last season, he unravelled. After being subbed off in the 63rd minute, he sat on the bench frothing at the mouth.

Post-match, Kimmich then got into a huge row with Tuchel’s trusted assistant Zsolt Low as they made their way back to the dressing room. The ill-feeling was spreading throughout the club.

Things got worse when Tuchel reportedly told his players: “You’re not as good as I thought, then I just have to adapt to your level,” according to Sky Germany following a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.

Unimpressed by his negativity, Bayern’s board members decided enough was enough and gave him his marching orders.

With his reputation preceding him, Tuchel might just be the most divisive manager England could get.

Imagine Harry Kane having to crawl on all fours as a punishment?