Sports Nicknames - The Professor, TT

Thomas Tuchel is a German master tactician and the current manager of Chelsea Football Club.



Tuchel's career as a football player ended prematurely due to a recurring injury, but he stayed true to the sport he loved and switched to management after hanging up his cleats.

His first higher profile appointment was in 2009 with Mainz 05 in the German Bundesliga. His knowledge and focus on hard pressing and pace earned him the big contract with Borussia Dortmund in 2015, where he replaced the legendary Jurgen Klopp. The two managers had a similar philosophy on how to play the game, so it was a good fit. After Dortmund, Tuchel moved to Paris in 2018 to manage a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain team featuring Neymar, Mbappe and Thiago Silva among others. He took the team to their first UEFA Champions League final, as well as won two domestic league titles.

Chelsea FC were looking for a new manager mid-season at the start of 2021 and Tuchel was available for the job. Six months or so later, the team was lifting a Champions League trophy. Thomas Tuchel was the biggest part of this story as he turned a non-performing team (by Chelsea standards) into winners.

In his native Germany, Tuchel is nicknamed 'The Professor' due to his elaborate tactics and training methods. At Chelsea he is known simply as 'TT' - his initials showing on his work pants and jacket.


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