Franz Beckenbauer, a German soccer legend, passed away today, he was 78 years old.
Beckenbauer won the 1974 World Cup as captain of Federal Republic of Germany. In 1990, he won the World Cup as a coach. Franz Beckenbauer won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1972 and 1976.
Rest in peace, legend
It's bad news.
In 2023, we had some legendary people died, Maradona, Pele and in just very early days of 2024, we have Beckenbauer. He is a legendary libero and in Germany football history, many years after Franz, they got another oustanding libero, Matthias Sammer.
About Franz, he is recognized as The Emperor to differentiate him with The King Pele. Because there is only one King, the world must use that term for Franz and getting it means he is actually a legendary player.
Rest In Peace to him.
Xabi has the freshness on his side that gives him a better perspective into the world of football, he was a player way more recently than Tuchel has ever been and Xabi played in bigger situations so learned more high level stuff there as well. Tuchel has the wisdom and experience on his side, he has managed a lot bigger clubs and have seen a lot more success on his managerial situations as well.
So, when you combine those two together, you do get a great manager, but when they are facing each other, I believe both have their advantages and disadvantages. I believe that we are not going to end up with anything that would get better, it should not be all that confusing, it should be quite the normal situation and do better in time.
Tuchel has more experience than Xabi Alonso, from Bundesliga to around Europe and at highest level like Champions League. Tuchel lifted some trophies in his coach career while Xabi Alonso still has empty hands as a coach. Comparing them about experience, Tuchel surely wins but comparing them about chances to win Bundesliga in this season, it is like 50/50 with a little bit advantage to Tuchel.
Tuchel has bigger advantage because of his experience and better player resources in Bayern Munich than Xabi and Leverkusen. Even so, Xabi and Leverkusen can make big shock to beat Bayern Munich and complete a mission which Dortmund failed in a last match day past season.