Thomas Tuchel has been head coach of FC Bayern since late March. Alongside Prof Dr Holger Broich (scientific director and head of fitness) and Michael Rechner (goalkeeping coach), the coaching staff is completed by Arno Michels, Zsolt Löw and Anthony Barry. We introduce you to Tuchel's three assistants in more detail - in part two: Zsolt Löw.
Taking the job at FC Bayern is sort of a return to his footballing home for Löw. Born in Budapest, the former Hungary international spent the majority of his playing career in Germany, making 47 Bundesliga and 100 Bundesliga 2 appearances for Energie Cottbus, Hansa Rostock, Hoffenheim and Mainz. It was with the latter that the defensive all-rounder finally hung up his boots under freshly minted Bundesliga coach Tuchel. And it was that meeting some 14 years ago that has since shaped Löw’s career and life.
“Close collaboration” with Tuchel
“We’re on the same wavelength”: Löw first met Tuchel the coach as a player at Mainz in 2009
“There was chemistry between us even when I was a player at Mainz in 2009. We’re on the same wavelength,” the 44-year-old recalls of his early days with the current Bayern boss. Their paths then went separate ways as Löw started out as assistant coach at Liefering in Austria before working under Adi Hütter at Red Bull Salzburg in 2014/15, and Ralf Rangnick and Ralph Hasenhüttl at RB Leipzig (2015-18). However, Löw always “remained in touch” with Tuchel during that time. And when offered the chance, he joined his backroom staff.
“We’ve been working closely together since Paris. I appreciate how he involves me, with the training planning, match planning, leading training, tactics. We make a lot of decisions together and work as a team,” Löw said of his time working with Tuchel, which includes successful spells at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. But it’s a collaboration that also goes beyond football. “We spend more than 300 days a year together – more time than with our families. A friendship has developed between us.”
“Immediately felt at home”
“We work as a team. there are no individual roles”: Löw working on the training ground at Bayern.
However, that isn’t the only reason why Löw “immediately felt at home” from his first day in Munich. He sees Bayern as “one of the top five clubs in the world. I immediately saw that everything here is so well organised and structured.” The former defender also highlights the close collaboration within the coaching staff: “We try to use everybody’s strengths and support each other. We work as a team.”
Nicknamed Jogi
Löw’s famous nickname also changes nothing in how Tuchel’s team all work equally. It was given to the Hungarian by his teammates at his first club in Germany. “When I went to Cottbus in 2002, nobody could really pronounce my first name Zsolt, so I was named after the later Germany national team coach. Everyone then called me that at all my club,” the assistant explains with a smile. It means nobody should get too shocked when they hear someone called Jogi shouting out instructions at Säbener Straße.
Find out more about Löw’s colleague Arno Michels:
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