MO MIDAS TUCH
Why Tuchel’s Harry Kane blunder isn’t only reason Sir Jim Ratcliffe may fancy Southgate or Potter at Man Utd instead
United are looking for a very specific quality
THOMAS TUCHEL blew his tryout to take over at Manchester United after his Champions League substitution blunder.
Bayern Munich boss Tuchel’s call to bring off both Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala at 1-0 up with five minutes of the semi-final second leg left gave the Germans no out-ball or attacking threat.
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His decision backfired as Real Madrid sub and ex-Stoke striker Joselu scored twice to seal a final spot against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1.
The substitution was slammed by ex-Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who fumed: “You cannot take Kane off. That’s the biggest call ever. How can you make that call?”
Afterwards, Tuchel insisted Kane was injured when he added: “His back had gone, he couldn’t go on.”
Yet the sight of the England captain and Musiala leaving the pitch at the Bernabeu ended any realistic way of Bayern hurting Real and emboldened Carlo Ancelotti’s 14-time Kings of Europe.
Now ex-Chelsea manager Tuchel, who is leaving Bayern at the end of the season, will ponder the next step in his managerial career.
Red Devils co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to have decided what everyone expected him to — Erik ten Hag simply has to go. The question is, who will come in?
United need a boss who can deal with the pressure of expectations at England’s biggest club.
Someone who can handle the egos of a squad full of players who think blaming everybody else for their errors is acceptable. And who can forge a winning mentality.
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It was not Tuchel’s fault Manuel Neuer, outstanding for the first 85 minutes of Wednesday’s tie, suddenly dipped his gloves in olive oil.
Or the Polish linesman flagged too early to cancel out Matthijs De Ligt’s late, late ‘equaliser’.
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Tuchel’s career record, at Dortmund, PSG, Chelsea and Bayern says he can tick all those boxes.
Silverware at every club and nine trophies in total — including Champions League glory at Stamford Bridge — as well as just getting Munich over the line in the Bundesliga last term.
Yet if Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford want someone who is easy to deal with, then the combustible and ceaselessly demanding Tuchel may not be that man.
Contrast him with the likes of Graham Potter and Gareth Southgate, two men who would be far more accommodating of the demand to fit a “United blueprint”.
Tale of the gaffer tape
THOMAS TUCHEL is fighting Graham Potter and Gareth Southgate for the Manchester United job
The German has won 36 of 59 matches in the Bayern hotseat but oversaw the end of their domestic dominance.
He lifted the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and has won league titles in Germany and France.
Graham Potter's spell as Chelsea manager was a disaster as he lasted just 31 matches.
But heroics with Brighton earned him plenty of fans and he enjoyed similarly successful spells with Swansea and Ostersunds.
His Stamford Bridge failure could lead to doubts about his performance at the highest level.
Southgate's club experience came with a stint at Middlesbrough between 2006 and 2009 that ended with relegation.
But he rebuilt his reputation with England's Under-21s and has since won 59 of 93 games with the senior side.
With a World Cup semi-final and European Championship final to his name, as well as a long spell in a notoriously intense post, he brings big-game experience.
There is ZERO chance that, in the same situation in this summer’s Euros, Southgate would take off his skipper.
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Brailsford’s previous incarnation at Team Sky and Team GB cycling was all about “marginal gains” and calmness under pressure, not panicking when the key moments came.
Tuchel had his key moment in Madrid. Brailsford and Ratcliffe may choose to weigh everything up — and determine it was a costly one.