New England manager Thomas Tuchel brings with him plenty of baggage – on and off the pitch.
The German tactician has taken the reins from Gareth Southgate, who departed after the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain, and interim manager Lee Carsley, who has manned the fort since. In an official announcement today, Tuchel said: “I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team.”
A controversial figure, the 51-year-old is known just as much for falling out with players and club chiefs across Europe as he is for his shrewd tactical acumen. He was sacked by Chelsea in 2022 following a turbulent start to their Premier League campaign – despite winning them the Champions League just a year earlier – and as a result he found himself with plenty of downtime, which he spent with his new flame at the time.
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The coach was snapped soaking up the sun with Brazilian beauty Natalie Max shortly after ending his 13-year marriage. Currently, Tuchel has set up shop in Munich, close to his two daughters from his failed marriage, and is living it up with 37-year-old Natalie, reports the Mirror.
Back when he was at Chelsea, whispers of his love life buzzed through the locker room, with chatter about his young Brazilian beau becoming a hot topic among the squad, reports the Mirror. Tuchel’s split and fresh romance were not just locker room gossip, but also reportedly altered some players’ views of him.
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Tuchel had tied the knot with his ex-wife Sissi in 2009 while carving out his career in Germany, and together they welcomed two girls, Emma and Kim. Sissi, once a journalist for the Suddeutsche Zeitung, hung up her press pass to focus on family life.
She relocated to the UK in August 2021, trailing behind her husband’s move to Chelsea, and they bought a luxury pad near the team’s training digs in Cobham, Surrey. Sissi was believed to have a significant influence on her husband’s career moves, dishing out sage advice when he was considering managerial positions.
After Tuchel waved goodbye to Dortmund in 2017, it’s said she scouted out homes in Paris before he took charge at PSG. Yet, she wasn’t one for the limelight, only popping up at an English game for the first time during the 2021 FA Cup final at Wembley, when Chelsea suffered defeat against Leicester City.
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Their romance hit the rocks, and by 2022, talk was they’d called it quits, with legal papers revealing Sissi had filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. “Sissi and Thomas have tried to avoid splitting, but in the end, there was no other way,” an insider told the Mail on Sunday at the time.
“It is very sad and now it is all about making sure their daughters are the top priority. Papers were lodged last week to get the divorce underway.”
The ink was dry on their divorce papers by April 2022, stamped by London’s High Court. Sissi got the nod from Mr Justice Mostyn that Tuchel had acted up so much that she couldn’t be expected to stick around.
(Image: Getty Images)
Tuchel, meanwhile, found love again with Max, a stunning mum-of-two who is 13 years his junior. In late July 2022, the manager and his new partner were spotted enjoying a luxurious getaway in Sardinia, staying at a private villa costing £20,000 per night.
Following Chelsea’s pre-season tour in the USA, he jetted off to the island, where they were seen unwinding on the beach, taking a dip, and having lunch at a hotel restaurant before boarding a boat to Caprera. According to a source, the couple “held hands at every opportunity”, with another onlooker noting that they appeared “very much in love”.
Tuchel was said to be “smitten” with the brunette, who is now a director at consulting agency Natexo, a position she’s held since March 2014. A close friend told the Daily Mail: “Natalie flew to Sardinia to join Thomas on their first holiday and they’ve been spending a lot of quality time together in West London, where she lives with her two children and dog.”
(Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Tuchel, a Bavarian native, began his coaching career after a knee injury forced the defender to retire from playing in his mid-20s. He started as a youth coach at SSV Ulm, progressing to roles with Stuttgart Under-19s, Augsburg, and Mainz, before becoming the first-team manager at Mainz in 2009.
There, he established himself as one of Germany’s top young coaches, securing the newly promoted team’s place in the Bundesliga and achieving a highest finish of fifth, as well as guiding them into European competition. Tuchel took on the unenviable task of succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund in 2015, but was unable to match Klopp’s success, winning a solitary domestic cup.
He later won Ligue 1 twice and reached the Champions League final with PSG, but lost to Bayern Munich. He achieved greater success with Chelsea, winning the Champions League in 2021 and the Club World Cup, only to be sacked after a run of poor form.
Tuchel later claimed the Bundesliga title with Bayern in 2023, winning the trophy on the last day of the season after Borussia Dortmund blew their chances with a late season collapse. The following year, trailing far behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, chiefs at Bayern announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the campaign.
Critics might worry about how his last three roles concluded, with evident discord between Tuchel and the management at both PSG and Chelsea, while results dwindled at Bayern, amid alleged locker room turmoil.