Thomas Tuchel’s first tactical battle with Guardiola- is he ready for the Premier League?

For those familiar with German football, Thomas Tuchel is already somewhat of a household name. Tuchel started his senior coaching career at Mainz and thanks to his tactics built around fast, brave football, as well as his adaptable shapes, he began to make a name for himself. He managed Mainz to ninth and fifth place in the league in his first two seasons, and continued to overperform with his squad of players, steering them clear of relegation throughout his tenure and going down as the best Mainz manager in history according to points per game. Tuchel then famously succeeded Jürgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, where he managed to make Dortmund a competitive and tactically astute side once again. The German adapted his style to Borussia Dortmund, with the quality and profile of players now allowing him to switch to a more possession-oriented approach. Tuchel only won one trophy at Dortmund in the DFB Pokal, however he lifted Dortmund back into challengers on the domestic front and successfully took over from one of the most influential managers in German football history.

In his final season at Mainz, and his first full season in Dortmund, Tuchel came head to head against Pep Guardiola, who Tuchel described as the best at the time.  Any match involving Guardiola tends to be an interesting tactical conundrum for the opposition coach, and Tuchel displayed several interesting tactical plans against Guardiola. Although he is yet to win a game against the Spaniard, his tactical set ups have often caused Guardiola problems, and the gulf in quality of squads has also had an effect. This tactical analysis will examine one specific match between Tuchel and Guardiola, analysing the tactical battle between the two and focusing primarily on the reasoning behind Tuchels choices in an unorthodox system.

 The pentagon

The match in question well look at it is the first meeting between the two, with Bayern recording a 4-1 victory over Mainz. The game though was certainly not  easy for Bayern as the scoreline may suggest, as at half time Mainz led the game 1-0 thanks to a Shawn Parker goal, with Mainz having little possession and limiting Bayern Munich to virtually no chances. Bayern Munich improved in the second half and early mistakes by Mainz decided the game, but Tuchels tactics in the game clearly caused Guardiola and Bayern some problems.

The main tactical feature this game is remembered for is Tuchels use of a pentagon shape, with a narrow 5-4-1 formation used. We can see this shape below, with two holding midfielders sitting deeper while wingers tuck in and stay narrow. The lone striker could apply relaxed pressure to the centre backs situationally, and could also perform the role of cutting access to the Bayern Munich pivot using his cover shadow.

We can see a basic overview of the shape again here, with left winger Choupo Moting remaining narrow and now pushing higher to press towards the Bayern centre back. The right winger for Mainz comes very narrow and can cover a nearby Bayern pivot, and so the two deeper central midfielders can remain both deep and central, as they are not drawn out by movements by the Bayern midfield. This means that even if the ball is able to be played into this pentagon, the chances of the opposition getting it out cleanly are low.Bayern here have used Rafinha as an inverted full-back, with the Brazilian now acting as a central midfielder and therefore helping to potentially create an overload in the middle of the pitch.

We can see an example here where Bay