Summary
Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp have had very similar paths to the top of management.
Tuchel was often compared to his compatriot in the early stages of their careers.
A former colleague of both men revealed how Tuchel felt about the comparisons.
You are unlikely to find two men with such similar careers in football management as Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. Even as players, the two men played in defence, albeit the former played at a higher level. However, when it came to moving towards the sidelines, the parallels between the two are almost too identical to believe.
Having taken up other roles in youth and lower-league football, both men received their big breaks at Mainz 05 and spent several years cultivating a positive reputation before making the next step in front of the yellow wall at Borussia Dortmund. While Tuchel would stop off in Paris briefly after leaving Germany, the duo would settle in the Premier League at Liverpool and Chelsea, before moving on to pastures new with the Red Bull Group and the England men's national team.
With such aligned journeys, it is impossible to ignore the comparisons. According to one man who worked under both, Tuchel would wish that people would turn their heads away from them, as it was once revealed just how irritated the former PSG boss became when being constantly linked with his native counterpart.
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Why Tuchel Hates Comparisons to Klopp
The former head of first team football at Mainz revealed all
Speaking in an interview with GOAL, former Mainz head of first-team football, Axel Schuster, revealed that Tuchel used to be "irritated" by comparisons made between him and Klopp as he was attempting to forge his own path in the professional game. Schuster held his role at the German club between 1992 and 2016, meaning he worked closely with both men during their respective reigns.
However, even though the two would continue to follow similar paths after leaving Die Nullfunfer, Schuster revealed that Tuchel had already grown tired of people linking his work with that of his predecessor.
"It didn't annoy him, it irritated him - for two reasons. Firstly, because he was often portrayed in public as a Klopp pupil. That's not true at all, the two were never at Mainz at the same time. Secondly, because comparisons were usually only made in the area in which Klopp has his absolute strengths: closeness to the people. Klopp makes people feel very close to him, even when they aren't."
In terms of what the future England boss saw as his strengths over Klopp, even in the early stages of his career, Schuster explained that Tuchel had a strong belief in the tactical side of the game and his ability to translate his message through his coaching.
"Tuchel, on the other hand, exhausts himself in his original work as a coach in such a way that apart from that, he only has energy for his family," the former Schalke sporting director claimed. "He then no longer has the energy to present himself as close to the people."
"On the other hand, no comparisons were made where Tuchel performed better than Klopp: hard facts such as points or table positions."
The ex-Chelsea boss even spoke to Sky Sports during his time at Stamford Bridge about how he felt as though the comparisons were lazy and did not reflect the true essence of both coaches, stating: "It's nice to be compared because he's one of the best coaches in Europe. On one hand, it's nice because it tells you you've reached a certain level, and then at some point, it's not nice because it does not tell the truth.
"I like him a lot and I have full respect, and we have good times when we meet in coaches' meetings, there is no doubt about it, but we are not half as close as everybody thinks."
Tuchel vs Klopp Statistics at Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund
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Tuchel and Klopp's Differing Paths After Borussia Dortmund
Tuchel has focused more on short-term projects compared to his compatriot
While their journeys to the top of German football couldn't have been more similar, the paths that Klopp and Tuchel have taken after leaving Dortmund show just how different the pair are. The former was more focused on a new project, spending the better part of a decade turning around the fortunes at Anfield and becoming one of Liverpool's greatest ever managers.
As for Tuchel, he has bounced around high-profile jobs, going from PSG to Chelsea, then to Bayern Munich before settling on the England job – his first in international management. The longest he stayed at any of these clubs was his two and a half years at the Parc des Princes. That is not to say he wasn't successful, as domestic and European glory has come the way of the 51-year-old, but he has shown he prefers to win immediately rather than building his success over a long-term basis like Klopp.
Even his Three Lions deal only runs through one major tournament (the 2026 World Cup), so there are no guarantees that Tuchel will remain at St George's Park for longer than 18 months.
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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate as of 18/03/2025.