- Tuchel gathered a lot of critics early on at Bayern
- Looks to shake things up in pre-season
- In search of more consistency
WHAT HAPPENED? When Julian Nagelsmann was, somewhat shockingly, relieved of his duties in March earlier this year after a 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, Tuchel was quickly ushered through the door and thrown into the deep end of a Bundesliga title race and with a massive Champions League tie against Manchester City on the horizon. The German's style of play was lambasted by some of the Bayern faithful as their side struggled to find consistency until the last few weeks of the season.
WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking after a 1-0 friendly victory over Kawasaki Frontale, Tuchel said: "The important thing is that you adapt to what the team needs. We want to be consistent. You’re always changing and adapting depending on where the team is. It’s always a mix of being close together, but also demanding.
"We’re training a lot and intensively, but of course jet lag and the heat play a role here. We’ll train again tomorrow. It’s always a compromise, what is necessary, what makes sense - so that we can demand quality tomorrow."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Tuchel saved himself and Bayern from humiliation on the final day of the Bundesliga season, pipping Borussia Dortmund to the title in dramatic circumstances. The aforementioned tie against eventual Champions League winners Manchester City went horrendously, with Die Roten losing 4-1 on aggregate, and they also crashed out of the DFB-Pokal at the quarter-final stage, losing at home to Freiburg.
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WHAT NEXT FOR TUCHEL? After a lacklustre time in charge thus far, the pressure is on Tuchel to get his Bayern side firing from the off when the Bundesliga gets underway on August 18.