Borussia Dortmund

Hans-Joachim Watzke 'worn out' dealing with Thomas Tuchel

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 30 May 2017

Thomas Tuchel's position as manager became untenable at Borussia Dortmund following boardroom tension, chief Hans-Joachim Watzke reveals.

Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has claimed that he had little choice but to sack Thomas Tuchel as he had become 'worn out' dealing with him.

The 43-year-old was given his marching orders on Tuesday morning, just three days on from lifting the DFB-Pokal - Dortmund's first trophy in five years.

Behind-the-scenes tension had been building for some time, however, with the scheduling of a Champions League tie against AS Monaco - following an attempted bombing of the team coach - said to have caused particular tension.

Watzke now hopes to bring a new manager on board who shares his philosophy, saying in a statement: "We have witnessed a season which is hard to describe. A season that was very, very moving. Although it ended with a great success in Berlin on Saturday, there's need for explanations.

"This squad has achieved something historic. And we have to thank our coach Thomas Tuchel and his staff, that's clear. There's some criticism from fans that we have parted ways with Tuchel. We can understand that as a club. BVB was successful with Tuchel for two years in which we have reached our goals.

"But we, sporting director Michael Zorc and me, have worn ourselves out in dealing with the coaching staff. Taking your responsibilities is not only about the results, that's not different at Dortmund from any other sporting club. It's about basic values such as trust, respect, communication, authenticity, identification. It's about loyalty.

"In the current situation, we did not see any starting point for a successful work for the future. That's why we decided not to continue with this coaching staff beyond the season 2016-17. For me, it's important to let you know, that it wasn't a question of whether you could drink a beer together or play cards together or not.

"If we simplify these things, we would be bad decision-makers. In my opinion, club representatives and the coach don't need to be close friends. The special relationship, that we, Zorc and I, had with Jurgen Klopp wasn't the standard for the relationship with Thomas Tuchel - and it won't be for any future Dortmund coach."

Tuchel guided Dortmund to a third-place finish in the Bundesliga in his second and final season at the helm.