Thomas Tuchel gives an unconvincing interview about his future at Dortmund

The saga of Thomas Tuchel vs Hans-Joachim Watzke is a rapidly moving one. A week ago, it didn’t seem like there were too many serious problems off the pitch. But then the news of their feud broke, and just a couple days later we’ve been left with the real possibility that Tuchel won’t be at BVB next season.

Tuchel’s agent has recently spoken out, and today we heard from the man himself via an interview with Fox Sports Netherlands. And he’s speaking in English! The circumstances are unfortunate, but at least that’s nice.

We’ve all heard Tuchel speak plenty of times, but there is a lot that feels off about him here.

He denies that there was a fight between him and Watzke, but then immediately mentions how Watzke started this with an interview “on Saturday on an important date.” He’s clearly calling out Watzke for that controversial interview he gave to Der Westen ahead of the Hoffenheim match last week.

Dortmund’s manager then goes on to say that “It’s his right. He’s the boss. And we’ve got to deal with it.”

Yeah...Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the boss from TT. I think he realizes it’s obvious, at this point, that they don’t get along.

This interview is even more telling just because Tuchel is such a bad actor. There’s clearly something going on here, and he’s clearly mad, no matter how much he tries to laugh and play it off like he isn’t. The reporter asks whether he will be the head coach of Dortmund next season, and Tuchel laughs and says “I’m the head coach of Dortmund in Augsburg, that’s for sure.”

To me, that sounds like a man who already knows he’s leaving this summer. Otherwise, why not just say something like “well the board and I will have to talk after the season”?

It’s a shame, because there was so much promise in this team. Tuchel leaving would have serious consequences, including more squad upheaval in the next transfer window. TT is a promising, young coach and it seems like Watzke has handled this completely the wrong way.

I’m hoping this somehow still all blows over, but it doesn’t look good.