Thomas Tuchel won the award as the best German coach from Kicker. The 47-year-old coach won the award by collecting 129 votes and was ahead of Hansi Flick as the award winner in the previous season who got 11 votes.
Tuchel’s success in bringing Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League title was one of the biggest reasons he won the award.
‘I accept the award very gratefully as a great honour for the entire team because I see myself as a team player,’ said Tuchel on receiving the award
‘I don’t believe in individual awards too much, I truly believe it is a team effort, not only the players on the pitch everybody loves, but the team behind the team. I don’t do this alone. I do it with my staff, not only my German and Hungarian staff but all the people at Cobham. It’s incredible to be part of because there we have an incredible amount of quality and support.
The former Paris Saint-Germain coach was appointed as Chelsea coach to replace Frank Lampard in January and became the first German to coach Chelsea.
Tuchel managed to show the best performance of Chelsea with the squad he has.
‘Football teams can win without the coaches, but coaches cannot win without the team. It’s a reward for the team and what we did, and now let’s get on.’ — said Tuchel
Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in their first five home games under Tuchel and this is the first since January 2015.
At the end of the season, Chelsea managed to secure the fourth position in the English Premier League and won the title in the biggest club competition in Europe by beating Manchester City with a score of 1–0 in the final.
Kai Havertz’s single goal at minute 42 managed to ensure The Blues victory in the match which took place at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto. Thomas Tuchel has become the second Chelsea coach after Roberto Di Matteo to win the Champions League since the last time in 2012.
