Hans-Joachim Watzke wanted Thomas Tuchel to take over Germany in the immediate aftermath of the 2022 World Cup debacle in Qatar – and says he later gave a glowing reference before Tuchel became England manager.
The Borussia Dortmund chief, who has been DFB vice president since 2022, admitted in an interview with Sky Germany that his mind quickly turned to radical change once Germany crashed out in the group stage.
"We were eliminated in Qatar quite miserably. And then? Then you think at night or for two nights, what could be now?" Watzke said.
The answer, in his eyes, was clear: Tuchel.
Flick stays, Tuchel slips away
Watzke stressed that the decision was never his to make. At the time, Oliver Bierhoff was still in place as managing director of the national team setup, and the federation opted for continuity.
"It was not my decision who would be national coach," Watzke explained. "But the basic attitude was simple: We'll continue with Hansi Flick. And Hansi is an excellent coach; you can see what he's doing at Barcelona."
Even so, Watzke felt the warning signs were flashing. Results were poor, performances worse. The World Cup, in his view, had exposed deeper problems than a freak exit.
He believed that after Qatar, the path would only become more complicated for Germany, because the team had not just lost – it had played badly.
Tuchel, at that point between jobs and one of the most coveted coaches in Europe, never came through the DFB door. The chance passed. Flick stayed on and was eventually dismissed in 2023 after a dismal run of form.
Old wounds, lasting respect
Watzke’s admiration for Tuchel is rooted in their turbulent spell together at Borussia Dortmund between 2015 and 2017. The partnership delivered trophies and tension in equal measure.
Tuchel led Dortmund to the DFB Pokal title in 2017, but within days he was out, the relationship with the hierarchy shattered. Central to that breakdown was the fallout from the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco, played just a day after a bomb attack on the Dortmund team bus.
Watzke now insists that the public version of that saga never told the whole story. The disagreements were real, the fracture deep, but the narrative, he says, was incomplete.
He made it clear, though, that the personal relationship has healed. Despite the acrimony of Tuchel’s departure, the two men still maintain a good rapport.
"Anyone who knows Tuchel as a personality also knows that he also imposes this pressure on himself," Watzke said, reflecting on the coach’s reaction to the bus attack and its aftermath. "And as I said, I always had respect for it in the end, even in retrospect, because I don't know if, when you were sitting on the bus at that moment, things felt different for you. After all, you just have to respect that."
From Germany’s missed chance to England’s gain
That respect mattered when the next big national-team job came calling.
Before Tuchel was appointed England manager, Watzke was consulted about his former coach. His response was unequivocal: a strong recommendation, based on first-hand experience of Tuchel’s intensity, tactical sharpness and resilience under extreme pressure.
Germany, retooled under a new regime, are trying to rebuild their identity after years of drift. England, with Tuchel now in charge, are betting that the same demanding character Watzke once clashed with in Dortmund can push them over the line.
One federation hesitated after Qatar. Another picked up the phone.
