Tuchel began his senior coaching career with Augsburg II in the German fifth tier, working in an old building with limited facilities and little specialist support. Yet Stroll remembers a coach whose standards were already unusually high.
The setting was modest, but Tuchel’s preparation was not. Stroll says the future Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager was intensely detailed, ambitious and determined to control every possible variable.
His most lasting lesson, according to Stroll, was to think “three steps ahead”.
Weber recalls a similar attention to detail. At Augsburg and later Mainz, Tuchel relied on notebooks, paper and clear explanations rather than advanced technology or extensive performance data.
Weber called him “a brain of football”, a phrase that captures Tuchel’s reputation for tactical clarity and relentless curiosity. Even small details mattered: before one early match against Bayer Leverkusen, Weber remembers Tuchel taking care over something as simple as finding the right Nike trainers.
That mindset travelled with him through Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern. Weber also highlights Tuchel’s ability to adapt quickly when injuries, transfers or internal changes altered the picture at a club.
For Stroll and Weber, Tuchel’s appeal is not built solely on trophies. It comes from seeing the process before the results arrived. Augsburg’s senior figures recognise a coach who could make demanding ideas understandable, even when his surroundings offered few advantages.
That history gives their support particular weight as England pursue World Cup success. Tuchel’s next challenge will be turning meticulous preparation into a defining tournament campaign - and proving that the lessons learned in Augsburg still travel at the highest level.