Bayern Munich boss, and former Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel provided some insight into the differences between the Premier League and the Bundesliga. Having managed in both competitions in the last three years, Tuchel talked about the differences in the physicality and the tactics involved in both.

Tuchel says playing in the Premier League is extremely stressful. Not only are the demands high for the top teams in the league. Each of those clubs is playing in at least two other competitions. Most of them are also playing in Europe. As a result, those squads continue to get deeper and more talented.

“The Premier League is more robust and demands even more from the players than the Bundesliga,” Tuchel told UEFA. “That’s certainly my impression. Mentally, physically and psychologically, it’s at the highest level.”

Tuchel never won the Premier League. However, he did help Chelsea finish fourth in his first partial season. In his only full season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea finished third. Then, in 2022/23 Chelsea sacked Tuchel when the club was in sixth. It finished 12th last season.

“That isn’t necessarily an advantage for the English teams, however, because playing in that competition is extremely stressful and then they also have to play in Europe.”

Tuchel says Premier League requires deeper squads than Bundesliga

Tuchel says playing so many games across different competitions has had an impact on the style of play.

“The squads are getting larger, and they rotate a lot more than they did a few years ago. Since they have started doing that, however, the English teams have become very competitive. There has been a trend towards robustness.”

For example, the German looked at Pep Guardiola, the most successful manager of this decade in the world of soccer. Traditionally, Guardiola’s play style is elegant, slow and methodical. However, he had to pivot to something more rigid and strong to counter fatigue.

“In the last final, Pep played a flat back four with four center-backs and Rodri in front of them. It was very physical, very robust with very strong tackling. It’s an absolute necessity at this level.”

Tuchel’s teams have embraced the physical nature that he discusses. Matthijs de Ligt and Jim Min-jae are two of the more physically imposing center-backs in European soccer.

(IMAGO / MIS)

(IMAGO / MIS)

(IMAGO / MIS)

Taking one of the best Premier League players

Perhaps the best judgment for saying the Premier League is the elite league is by poaching one of its best players. This summer, Thomas Tuchel lured Harry Kane away from Tottenham in a long-awaited move out of north London.

“He’s more than talented, he’s absolutely world-class. He has talent, ability, aura, personality, modesty, and love and dedication to the game. We persuaded the captain of England to leave England and I think we can pat ourselves on the back for that for a while. He’s a huge signing.”

Tuchel said those demands from the Premier League carried over to Bayern Munich, where Kane is regularly among the best in training.

“[Kane] has a massive influence because you can’t underestimate the fact that everybody has some influence. He is the first one on the training pitch and has a certain relaxed attitude. He has a certain personality, he loves training. And if you are such a great player, everything that you do has an impact.”

PHOTO: IMAGO / Eibner.