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Tuchel’s classy message after winning Germany’s Coach of the Year

Thomas Tuchel
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The Chelsea boss saw off competition from Hansi Flick and Edin Terzic to win Germany’s Coach of the Year prize on Sunday.

Thomas Tuchel has played down his Coach of the Year award in Germany by insisting his achievements at Chelsea were a team effort.

After leaving Paris Saint-Germain in December, Tuchel took the Chelsea manager’s job a month later. He then embarked on an incredible first four months. Results improved drastically. The Blues climbed from ninth to fourth in the Premier League, reached the FA Cup final, and won the Champions League.

It was a superb turnaround, allowing Tuchel to beat former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick as Germany’s Coach of the Year by 11 votes. Borussia Dortmund’s Edin Terzic came third on 75 votes.

“I accept the award very gratefully as a great award for the entire team because I see myself as a team player,” Tuchel said on Kicker.

“Therefore, the personal award is a bit uncomfortable for me.

“Who wants to decide what the greatest coaching performance is? Maybe [Freiburg boss] Christian Streich or [Mainz coach] Bo Svensson deserve the award. Maybe you could drive him to Freiburg every year. Maybe you would have to drive him to Heidenheim because the work is outstanding there.

“The coach alone is not enough to win the Champions League.”

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Hoffenheim forward Nicole Billa joined Tuchel on the winner’s list by winning the Footballer of the Year for the men’s and women’s categories respectively.

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