Dortmund chief Watzke Admits Regretโ Over Tuchel Firing,Says No โฃReplacement โMatched โขHis Success
Dortmund,Germany – Borussia โคDortmund’s long-time CEO Hans Joachim Watzke has publicly stated he regretsโ the 2017 โdismissal of then-head coach โThomas Tuchel,acknowledging that no subsequent manager has โฃachievedโค the sameโ level of success. the admission comes years after a โfractured โฃrelationshipโฃ stemming from disagreementsโ over the handling of aโ bomb attack onโฃ the BVB team โคbus and the rescheduling of a โคChampions โLeague โquarterfinalโ match.
Watzke, 66,โ told “Sport Bild” that โthe fallout from the โincident andโฃ subsequent conflict โled to a situation โคhe now wishes had been handled differently.โ “Weโค had broken ourselves down โsoโ much as โofโฃ this issue that โit โคprobably wouldn’t have been โขreally good on a human level,” Watzke said. “Looking back, I don’t โthink it would haveโข gotten thisโฃ far without the attack. And in retrospect, I have to say: I probably wouldn’t have fired Thomas Tuchel โฃtoday.” The โคrevelationโ arrives as โฃDortmund navigates another managerialโ change, recently โขappointing Edin Terziฤ following a period of instability.
The dismissal โฃoccurred followingโค theโค rescheduling of the Champions League quarterfinal against AS Monaco after the BVB team busโ was attacked, injuring then-player Marc Bartra. Tuchel vocally criticized the decision to play the rescheduled match โso soon after the incident, a point of contention that provedโ irreparable with club management. Dortmund lost both legs ofโฃ the tie (2-3, 1-3) andโค finished the season in third place, despite winning the DFB-Pokal.
Tuchel’s record โat Dortmund demonstrates a points-per-game โขaverage of 2.12 – the โขhighest of any BVB coach in โขthe club’s history.His subsequent success โat Paris Saint-Germain,โ Chelsea (where he won โขthe 2021 Championsโข League), and bayern Munich furtherโข underscores the perceived misstep. Sinceโ Tuchel’s departure, Dortmundโฃ has cycled through โseven different head coaches, without utilizing any interim appointments. Currently managing the england national team, Tuchel is slated to lead them into the 2026 World Cup, โคaiming to end a 60-year title drought.