It’s Melbourne, 2023. The Australian Open is in full swing – that intoxicating mix of summer heat & elite tennis.
I’m sitting with my boss Navin, courtside, watching the match. And then, almost casually, I become aware of who is sitting directly behind us.
Thomas Tuchel, the current English manager leading the charge at the Fifa World Cup 2026.
For a football person – and I am very much a football person – this was a significant moment. Here was one of the most tactically gifted managers in the modern game, a Champions League winner with Chelsea, sitting two feet behind me at a tennis tournament in Australia.
I turned around and introduced myself.
Told him I was a Liverpool fan. Told him I was a Klopp disciple. And then told him – genuinely – that what he built at Chelsea, and the manner in which it was taken from him, was one of the more baffling decisions I’d seen in recent football.
He smiled. Warm, relaxed, completely at ease -the way people are when they’re between chapters.
I did ask him what was next.
He paused, considered it, and said something to the effect that a lot was brewing.
On my list of managers I’ve always wanted to meet – Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola & Jose Mourinho.. and Tomas Tuchel. So it was good fete.
Football, tennis, and a chance encounter in Melbourne.
Same side of the net.
#ThomasTuchel #England #AustralianOpen #Football #Tennis #SameSideOfTheNet #PremierLeague