Thomas Tuchel is ruthless, demanding and humourless but he’s a WINNER – and just what England need for next manager

ENGLAND’S new manager has a ruthless streak that has seen him fall foul of players and club bosses — but it might be just the job for the Three Lions.

Those who know him best admit Thomas Tuchel has not been out to win any popularity contests while fighting his way to the top.

Football writer Carsten Germann told The Sun: “He’s absolutely unhumorous.

“He’s not a coach for the people.

“He’s a football scientist, he puts tactics and results over all.

“But that winning mentality is what England could need.”

Tuchel, the 51-year-old former chief coach at Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain, was caught on video bawling out a young striker — and French superstar Kylian Mbappe said the only German word he learned from him was “scheisse” (s***).

Tuchel, who has followed rival Jurgen Klopp into posts at various club sides, has also been known to bristle if compared to the former Liverpool boss.

Experiences that have shaped him include one seven years ago, while manager of Borussia Dortmund, when he survived a bomb attack on the team bus, with shrapnel striking seats close to him.

And the father-of-two ended his 13-year marriage to an ex-journalist after allegedly beginning an affair with a Brazilian businesswoman 14 years younger than him.

But there are also accounts of him offering warm words of encouragement to stars in one-to-one chats — and paying for his cleaner’s son to receive life saving medical care.

Tuchel was born in the small town of Krumbach in Bavaria, and was coached by dad Rudolf with the local side.

At 15 he was spotted by top-flight German club Augsburg, and he played three times for the national Under-18s.

Yet teammate Heiner Schuh recalled: “He had few friends as he was exacting and demanding.”

Defender Tuchel turned professional at lower league Stuttgart Kickers.

He never drank with others players and is still almost teetotal, often opting for “warm water drinking”.

A series of knee injuries ended his playing career when he was at FC Ulm, aged just 24.

The cartilage damage was considered wear and tear by the insurers, so he did not get a payout.

He said: “I was insured for everything apart from this one lousy condition.”

Tuchel waited tables at the Radio Bar in Stuttgart in 1999.

It helped him become more gregarious and fund his business administration course at university.

A year later he was hired as a youth coach at top side Stuttgart, before moving on to Augsburg’s second team and then Mainz 05.

In a shock move he was promoted from under-19 coach to first team manager in 2009.

Tuchel admitted at the time that the Bundesliga club had been willing to take the risk because it had worked with Klopp in the past.

In the same year he married Sissi, a journalist at the highly respected national newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

She reportedly gave up her career to bring up their two daughters, Emma and Kim.

Sissi, who is very private, was seen by his side celebrating successes on the pitch as unfashionable Mainz twice qualified for the Europa League.

But an amateur cameraman caught Thomas screaming at a young striker Shawn Parker for almost a minute in the dressing room after one game — before telling him: “So go join the under 17s.”

Club executive Christian Heidel wanted his manager to engage with the fans and media more — like the popular Klopp did.

But he regretted starting a conversation saying, “with Kloppo we used to . . .”

In an unauthorised biography titled Rulebreaker, Heidel said: “That’s when Thomas started yelling at me, ‘How dare I?’

“The conversation was over.

“I thought to myself, ‘Whoops, I hit a nerve’.”

He’s very sensitive to criticism

Football writer Carsten Germann

England’s Liverpool players, like Trent Alexander-Arnold, may do well to remember that anecdote.

Indeed, Tuchel’s thin skin could be a problem as England coach — where flak comes with the job.

Carsten, who has interviewed Tuchel, said: “He’s very sensitive to criticism.”

However his undoubted talents led Dortmund to hire him as Klopp’s replacement in 2015.

Two years later he won Germany’s equivalent of the FA Cup and reached the quarter final of the Champions league.

In April that year a controversial 3-2 defeat against Monaco showed how hard it can be to know the truth about Tuchel’s character.

It came after he survived the team bus attack, which left him being viewed by some as a heroic defender of his squad, and by others as a callous villain.

Sports journalist Pit Gottschalk’s book Locker Room Whispers reported he responded to seeing tearful players by saying: “I’m supposed to beat Bayern with these wimps?”

The manager gave a totally different account. He had been angry that his side had been ordered to play the game against Monaco just 24 hours after the bombing.

He said: “We had the feeling we were being treated as if our bus had been hit by a can of beer.”

Bizarrely, it turned out that perpetrator Sergei Wenergold hid homemade devices filled with hydrogen peroxide and a dozen bolts close to the bus in order to make money on the stock exchange.

Shortly before the attack he “bet” that the club’s shares would drop.

In November 2018 Wenergold, 35, was jailed for 14 years.

The fallout from the incident caused a rift with Dortmund’s chief executive and Tuchel was dismissed.

He joined PSG, taking the French side to their first Champions League final.

He’s a football scientist, he puts tactics and results over all

Football writer Carsten Germann

However it was reported that he fell out with star player Mbappe as well as Brazilian sporting director Leonardo, and he lost his job.

Before leaving the French capital, Tuchel heard his cleaner’s son was going to hospital and paid for his care.

In January 2021 he arrived in London, replacing Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager.

Tuchel took them from ninth in the Premier League to fourth, qualifying for the Champions League, but lost in the FA Cup final to Leicester.

Off the field, there were problems with Tuchel’s marriage.

He started a relationship with Brazilian Natalie Guerriero Max, 37, and in 2022 he split from Sissi.

Natalie, who stills lives in London, could be one of the reasons he was keen to take the England job.

An insider said: “Thomas is obsessed with Natalie, but he is still close to his children and is a good father who sees them often.”

Tuchel lead Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, masterminding victory against Pep Guadiola’s Manchester City.

Yet he was dismissed by the club’s new American owners in September 2022.

An email included in Sissi’s divorce papers suggested that he had been fired for “’off-field reasons” with the players “losing respect for him.”

But the manager remained in demand.

Hired by Munich, he won the league title in his first season before a poor set of results the following year led to yet another departure.

Three Lions fans will be hoping Germany’s loss is England’s gain.