PSG sack Tuchel: German leaves with similar record to predecessor Emery

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed the departure of Thomas Tuchel midway through his third season with the French champions.

The former Borussia Dortmund boss won two straight Ligue 1 titles and took PSG to the Champions League final last season.

But he has paid the price for a slow start to the 2020-21 season amid reports of problems behind the scenes.

We have used Opta statistics to review Tuchel’s reign, with Mauricio Pochettino seemingly poised to replace him.
 

ON A PAR WITH EMERY

PSG’s dominance of Ligue 1 in his first two seasons means Tuchel leaves with a record that looks similar to that of his predecessor Unai Emery.

Tuchel had a record of 2.37 points per game in Ligue 1, which is exactly the same as the mark recorded by Emery and tied for the best in club history.

Among other recent PSG bosses, Laurent Blanc (2.35) was not too far behind, though Carlo Ancelotti (2.14) fared less well at an earlier stage of the club’s project.

Tuchel had a top-flight win rate of 75.6 per cent (62 wins from 82 games). That is the highest PSG league win percentage, just clear of Emery (73.7).

1 – Thomas Tuchel among Ligue 1 managers (2 games minimum):

2.37 points/gast average in the history (tied with Unai Emery)
75.6% win-raighest percentage in the history

Aufwiedersehen. pic.twitter.com/R3GtqjJglP

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 24, 2020

However, once all competitions are factored in, Tuchel ends up just behind the former Arsenal and Sevilla head coach.

Emery had a total PSG win rate of 76.3 despite never making it as far as Tuchel did in the Champions League, while the German’s final mark was 74.8 per cent.
 

UNWANTED HISTORY

PSG’s decision to sack Tuchel came after a 4-0 win over Strasbourg last week, making him only the second Ligue 1 boss ever to be sacked mid-season immediately after winning by at least four goals.

The other was Leonardo Jardim, who was later re-hired by Monaco after Thierry Henry struggled as his replacement. 

3 – Paris’ games with 1 shot on target or fewer in Ligue 1 under Qatar ownership :

Problem. #LOSCPSG pic.twitter.com/tHoC3MrImo

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 20, 2020

Tuchel is the first head coach to be fired during a season despite sitting in the top three of Ligue 1 since another man who fell victim to a QSI sacking at PSG: Antoine Kombouare in the 2011-12 campaign.

GOALS GALORE BUT 19 DEFEATS

Only Blanc (173) took charge of more than Tuchel’s 127 PSG matches over the QSI era.

Under Tuchel, who could call upon superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, PSG averaged 2.67 goals per game in Ligue 1.

That was the best league scoring record of any PSG boss in history, although Emery (2.74) had a higher mark than Tuchel (2.65) when it came to all competitions.

Tuchel did suffer 19 defeats, more than any boss since QSI took over in 2011.

Emery only lost 12 times in 114 games, while Blanc lost only 16 despite being in charge of 46 more matches than Tuchel.

Both Tuchel and Emery conceded 0.81 goals per game, falling short of the impressive 0.73 under Blanc’s stewardship.

Blanc’s teams were less of an attacking force, though, averaging 2.26 goals per game in all competitions, while under Ancelotti that figure was 1.99.