He’s the arm-waving, finger-jabbing manager who’s been furiously driving his England players to victory after victory. But there’s a surprisingly softer – and romantic – side to the Tuchel Tornado

No one has suggested that Thomas Tuchel has missed his true calling as a diplomat. The future England boss repeatedly clashed with his young football teammates because he was ‘assertive and demanding and that wasn’t always welcomed,’ according to one former partner.

More than 40 years later, German-born Tuchel still seems unconcerned about dislocating noses. Even by the standards of a typical football manager, he looks particularly animated as he gives instructions to his players from the touchline (waving his index finger repeatedly as he does so).

There was absolutely no sign of falling behind in Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway. At one point during a water break he appeared to tap his finger on a player’s chest.

And according to one lip-reading expert, it contained an explosive remark to the team, a clear command: ‘Work harder.

Go faster. You are very static. You’re just standing.”

And of course, Tuchel’s words that ‘sloppy’ England were ‘lucky’ against Norway created uneasiness in the team. Clearly incensed, star player Jude Bellingham initially dismissed the criticism by saying ‘Yeah, whatever’, before claiming the manager ‘didn’t know what it was like’ to play in such a risky game.

Despite the passionate response to his team’s efforts, many fans welcome a manager who is visibly determined to encourage his players to improve.

Tuchel was seen with his ex-wife Sissi. They have two daughters named Emma and Kim. The marriage officially ended in 2022 due to irreconcilable differences

But while Tuchel’s appeal has occasionally faded from the eyes of England’s stars, particularly those used to the more relaxed regime under Gareth Southgate, his appeal has not gone unnoticed elsewhere.

Indeed, the towering Tuchel, standing at an imposing height of 6ft 1in, seems to have no shortage of female admirers. His post-match interviews were the source of much comment from Mumsnet regulars, with one user observing: ‘He’s got such a lovely smile.’ Another replied: ‘Stay away mate. I’m ahead of you. It’s a pleasure to watch, isn’t it?’

Tuchel, who is now divorced and turns 53 next month, married journalist Sissi in 2009 and the couple have two daughters, Emma and Kim. The couple’s marriage officially ended in 2022 due to irreconcilable differences.

At that time, unfounded rumors were circulating about his private life. While court documents state Sissi cannot be expected to remain in the relationship, no details about the infidelity have emerged.

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Tuchel’s current partner is mother-of-two Natalie Max, a Brazilian business consultant who is 13 years his junior. They were spotted on a romantic cruise in Sardinia in July 2022, just days after their divorce was finalized, and were living in Paddington, London.

Evidence shows that he adapted easily to London life. His haunts include West End gastropub The Devonshire, where he occasionally drinks Guinness, and various record shops in Soho. He has been spotted at various times wandering around the Natural History Museum in South Kensington and a Marylebone store specializing in vintage film posters.

According to reports, Tuchel, who describes himself as a ‘flawed vegetarian’, is something of a culture vulture. He is an avid reader of books on architecture and design, although his favorite book is said to be The Inner Game Of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey; This book was first published in 1974 and is described on one publishing site as ‘a timeless guide to achieving the state of ‘relaxed concentration’ that is not only the key to peak performance in tennis, but also the secret to success in life’.

Tuchel shouts at his players during England’s win over Norway in Miami on Saturday night

Tuchel traveled to Vienna in the mid-2010s to see a collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, after his interest was piqued by conversations with an 80-year-old art enthusiast at the local swimming pool in Germany.

It is also known that Tuchel has a generous winning streak. During her time in Paris, she reportedly paid for her maid’s son to have heart surgery and later bought him a villa in the Philippines so he could return to his family.

Born in Krumbach, a quiet town about 75 miles from Munich, Tuchel grew up in a middle-class home where his father, Rudolf, a local football coach, worked as a water maintenance engineer and his mother, Gabriele, as a special needs teacher.

He was educated at the town’s primary school, where he led the under-14 football team to the national championship and his ‘playful arrogance’ was noted by fellow students in his graduation yearbook. Although he was a professional football player, his football career ended at the age of 25 due to a severe knee injury.

By then he had begun to earn a degree in business administration in Stuttgart. To fund his studies, Tuchel took up a job collecting glasses at the city’s popular Radio Bar, which is at the center of Germany’s emerging hip-hop scene. He was quickly promoted to serving behind the bar, but has since joked that he ‘wouldn’t want to drink the cocktails I mixed in the beginning’ and suggested that his signature mix was ‘maybe a bad mojito’.

While working at Radio Bar, Tuchel received a call from his former boss Ralf Rangnick, who has since managed Manchester United and is now in charge of the Austrian national team, offering him an internship as youth team coach at VfB Stuttgart.

Thus began Tuchel’s checkered management journey. But his uncompromising, outspoken and often hostile nature involved him in numerous high-profile conflicts.

While boss of Borussia Dortmund in Germany, he publicly criticized CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke for agreeing to a Champions League match less than 24 hours after the bomb attack on the team’s bus in April 2017. Despite bringing home the club’s first trophy in five years, Tuchel, described by Watzke as a ‘difficult person’, was sacked the following month.

He was later fired by Paris Saint-Germain, where he had very good results, after repeatedly clashing with the club hierarchy. Meanwhile, reports of friction with players at various clubs are also worth their two cents.

It was January 2021 when Tuchel moved to Chelsea (another appointment ended in tears) and, following a stint at Bayern Munich (which also involved a less-than-amicable company split), he took up the £5.9m-a-year job in England last year.

While there is a question mark over Tuchel’s interpersonal skills and straightforward demeanor, few doubt his ability as a tactician.

60 years after England’s famous victory over West Germany (and 81 years after the end of the Second World War), he may still be the man who brought football’s greatest honor back to these shores for only the second time in history.