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In the third part of our interview series to find out more about Thomas Tuchel’s backroom staff, we speak to his compatriot and long-time assistant Arnaud Michels.
A first-team coach, Michels worked with top-flight players at Mainz, Dortmund and PSG before moving to Stamford Bridge, and he tells us about his passion for improving players, the intense period since joining Chelsea and the characteristics of Tuchel that most people don’t like I don’t see…
How did your football story begin?
– It was a long time ago. I started playing when I was about seven years old. I didn’t go on to play as a professional player, I played semi-professional. In Germany I was in the fourth division more than 30 years ago and at the end of my career I was in the third division with my hometown club Eintracht Trier, but at the same time I was assistant coach of the first team, so I played and trained in the same team. And I was in charge of the youth team and the under-23 team.
“Then we went up to the second division, the 2.Bundesliga, and I stayed as an assistant for three years until 2005. I was an assistant coach at LR Ahlen for half a year, then also with my old head coach in Trier. Then I decided I had to do something different and got my UEFA professional license in 2006 when I met Thomas. Then I went back to work for a semi-professional club and thought maybe this was my football career.
But it wasn’t, was it?
“In 2009, Thomas called me. I was working for the football federation and overnight he became the head coach of Bundesliga team Mainz. We were in contact before because he wanted to play against my team, but I was lucky to have the opportunity to work for a Bundesliga club. So I left the German federation after four weeks!
I became his assistant in Mainz and have been with Thomas for 13 years now. I think what I know about football I learned with him during that time.
What position were you in when you were a player?
“I played in the center of midfield. I started as an attacking midfielder and then, as usual with experience, I finished more defensively, as a single six or a double six, more for the organization.’
Was playing semi-pro the reason you started training early to earn extra money?
– Yes. I studied sports science in Cologne and I have always been interested not only in the game, but also in everything related to training. I watched so many games in Cologne. They weren’t bad in those days and it was close to where I was studying, only 100 meters from the stadium, so I felt close to professional football all the time, even if I wasn’t playing it.
“My passion was being on the field and working in football. I’ve always been interested in how to improve players.
“I also worked at a rehabilitation center when I graduated. It was a center for injured players but also for other injured people and that helped me to have an understanding from the medical side and about injuries, which is good to have as an assistant coach.”
When you were doing your UEFA license with Thomas, did you get to know him by giving the same lectures together and working together on the training pitch?
‘Not so much. There was a group of about 25, but it wasn’t that tight a relationship. I wouldn’t say it’s the beginning. For me, I would say it was sheer luck that I got the chance from him.
“He was talking to different coaches when he needed an assistant and he asked me because he knew me. We knew each other, but we didn’t know how it would go, so we tried. My wife also worked in the same city where Thomas became a coach, so the circumstances were perfect for us to start together. I was also completely hungry to work in the German Bundesliga. It’s always been a dream.
“We can also try things in Mainz. I wouldn’t say we have nothing to lose because it was important for Thomas, it was his first time as a head coach of a Bundesliga team, but we also managed to get our work done so we could train, try things, he let’s do things so that we can gain experience by doing some things ourselves. It was a very first beginning.
The dream got even bigger when you went to Borussia Dortmund…
It was completely different because of the amount of games we suddenly had to play. It was the first time we had to deal with a lot of games, better players, experienced players, successful players. We also survived the bombing there [in 2017 three roadside bombs went off next to the team coach on the way to a Champions League game] which is also part of our great luck. I don’t like to talk about it a lot, but in those moments everyone is together.
You worked together for a long time in different leagues, in France with PSG and at Chelsea. You must have a well-established method of working, but has it changed over time?
‘Definitely. Our experience changes, the experience of the players changes, the ambition of the players changes and in different clubs you have to adapt to the style of play and to the country. We’ve worked with very experienced, very successful players and it’s amazing to see them on the pitch, the work ethic. We love watching that kind of football and it was a really fantastic moment when we played Wolverhampton in our first game here to see what this Championship is capable of. You see the pictures, you see the videos, you see it in the stadiums, but if you’re a part of it, that’s a big thing for me.
Thomas explained earlier that as a coaching staff, if you’re not happy with a performance, you first ask if there was anything your coaches should have done differently…
“That’s important, to focus on ourselves, to give each other feedback to talk about our work. If our approach to the game is right, then we can demand from the players, sometimes our approach is right, sometimes it’s wrong, so it’s a constant process of giving yourself feedback, realizing what you’re doing and focusing on your job as well. It is a constant adaptation to a given situation.
What was the experience like from your point of view, arriving in January 2021 and then winning the Champions League just four months later?
‘It was fantastic. We didn’t have much time to think about many things. We came in and our goal was to qualify for the Champions League [for the following season] and we made it on the last day, which helped us win the Champions League title in the end.
We had to go step by step, fight for fourth place and things went well from the start. We’ve won against so many good teams, we’ve won at Tottenham, we’ve won at Liverpool, we’ve won important games in the Champions League against Atletico and suddenly you have so much confidence and belief that you can get to the Champions League, but it’s not about going in and saying you’re going to reach the final of the Champions League, that was not our first thought.
“We stayed as four boys for three months in a hotel when we came, everything was locked, so we were just focused on football, watching Premier League games and talking so much about football. It was a very tense moment, but we didn’t think that we might end up winning the Champions League. We were more or less made to win the fourth game in a game.
And then last season there were so many games to work on…
“For me personally, this has been the most difficult season so far. We had to play 63 games and there was the Covid situation and we compete at this highest level with the best teams and they don’t lose that many games so it feels like a final all the time.
“We’ve also had to deal with injuries and there’s the FIFA Club World Cup and we’ve been in all the competitions until the end or almost until the end. Normally we should be very pleased with the season. We were in two finals that we didn’t even lose, it was a penalty shootout, but it was a very difficult season.
Do you and fellow assistant Zsolt Low have similar roles?
“Yes, but he brings a different experience and approach from his time at Leipzig and he can add his experience as a professional player and know how the player feels. I can’t, and Thomas was so-so as a player.
“We share our ideas about football, we have more or less the same tasks and we also have Anthony. [Barry] on the coaching staff and there was Joe [Edwards] which is also interesting because they use a different language and have a different approach to things. It’s good for a team to refresh itself with new ideas.”
To top it off, you’ve worked with Thomas as long as anyone. Can you tell us something about him that we might not know?
“What most people don’t see is that he’s one of the funniest guys you can imagine. He can put it on as an actor in a role and he can be so smart, and he can laugh at himself. I once told him he could be an actor, I could see him acting in movies.
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