Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel compares Bundesliga and the Premier League

Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel arrived last spring after a poor start that year ended his Chelsea FC career early. Tuchel had won the Champions League for Chelsea in his first partial season in charge with the Blues, and reflected on the differences in football between the two countries.

“The Premier League is more robust and demands even more from the players than the Bundesliga. That’s certainly my impression,” Tuchel said in a recent Champions League pregame press conference, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “Mentally, physically and psychologically, it’s at the highest level. 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. That’s why the teams are expanding. The squads are getting larger, and they rotate a lot more than they did a few years ago.”

Bayern are no strangers to the taxing efforts of a season-long campaign on three fronts — with the struggles that emerged in the second half of last season a stark reminder that it is a marathon, not a sprint.

But recent trends and changes might have just given the EPL teams a new bounce — as deep rosters and regular rotation enable better load management in deep-pocketed clubs. It has also led to a style change, Tuchel argued, in what may be a window into his vision for Bayern.

“Since they have started doing that (rotation), however, the English teams have become very competitive. There has been a trend towards robustness. In the last final, Pep [Guardiola] played a flat back four with four centre-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 concluded.