In the summer of 2008, two coaches met up at Bruchweg to discuss the development of talent at FSV Mainz 05. The two coaches were Jürgen Kramny and Thomas Tuchel, who face eachother this evening in the DFB Cup quarterfinal as the respective bosses of VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund.
Seven and a half years ago, Jürgen Kramny became assistant coach of Mainz’s first team, and wanted to find a replacement to coach the youth side. Mainz employed 34-year-old coach Thomas Tuchel, and the rest is history.
His U19 side, with the help of future world champion André Schürrle, went on to win the championship. Soon afterwards, his services were required higher up as manager Jörn Andersen and his assistant Jürgen Kramny were forced to leave after their exit from the DFB Cup against VfB Lübeck. At the start of the 2009/10 season, Thomas Tuchel and assistant Arno Michels took their place in the dugout.
Tuchel on Kramny: "From now on, I hope everything goes well"
The two colleagues won’t be discussing that turbulent period in the summer of 2009 - the game tonight is far too important. In the DFB Cup quarterfinal, Kramny’s VfB Stuttgart side face Thomas Tuchel and Borussia Dortmund. The same fixture took place ten weeks ago in the Bundesliga, and ended 4-1 to Dortmund. "Jürgen did very well at Mainz, and kept the second team of VfB in the third division for many years - no small achievement," said Tuchel about Kramny: "From now on, I hope everything goes well."
And it certainly has. Since the defeat in Dortmund, Kramny hasn’t lost a game. In fact, including a cup win over Eintracht Braunschweig, they’ve won five games in a row, and are first place in the 'table' (since the start of the second half of the season) with Dortmund in second. VfB have scored nine goals since the winter break, and have strengthened their defence simultaneously. "We are now unbeaten in a fair few games," said Kramny in an interview with DFB.de. "We’ve made it very difficult for teams to beat us. We need to keep this going."
Tuchel a youth coach at Stuttgart for five years
This new-found belief has not gone unnoticed. "They’re the hardest team to face at the moment in Germany. A very difficult opponent, a tricky draw," said Tuchel, who was youth coach at VfB between 2000 and 2005.
Should Dortmund win, then it will be a debut for Tuchel in a DFB Cup semi-final. He would also improve an already positive personal record against Kramny - in 1994, Tuchel and SSV Ulm triumphed 1-0 against a 1. FC Nürnberg side containing Jürgen Kramny.
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In the summer of 2008, two coaches met up at Bruchweg to discuss the development of talent at FSV Mainz 05. The two coaches were Jürgen Kramny and Thomas Tuchel, who face eachother this evening in the DFB Cup quarterfinal as the respective bosses of VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund.
Seven and a half years ago, Jürgen Kramny became assistant coach of Mainz’s first team, and wanted to find a replacement to coach the youth side. Mainz employed 34-year-old coach Thomas Tuchel, and the rest is history.
His U19 side, with the help of future world champion André Schürrle, went on to win the championship. Soon afterwards, his services were required higher up as manager Jörn Andersen and his assistant Jürgen Kramny were forced to leave after their exit from the DFB Cup against VfB Lübeck. At the start of the 2009/10 season, Thomas Tuchel and assistant Arno Michels took their place in the dugout.
Tuchel on Kramny: "From now on, I hope everything goes well"
The two colleagues won’t be discussing that turbulent period in the summer of 2009 - the game tonight is far too important. In the DFB Cup quarterfinal, Kramny’s VfB Stuttgart side face Thomas Tuchel and Borussia Dortmund. The same fixture took place ten weeks ago in the Bundesliga, and ended 4-1 to Dortmund. "Jürgen did very well at Mainz, and kept the second team of VfB in the third division for many years - no small achievement," said Tuchel about Kramny: "From now on, I hope everything goes well."
And it certainly has. Since the defeat in Dortmund, Kramny hasn’t lost a game. In fact, including a cup win over Eintracht Braunschweig, they’ve won five games in a row, and are first place in the 'table' (since the start of the second half of the season) with Dortmund in second. VfB have scored nine goals since the winter break, and have strengthened their defence simultaneously. "We are now unbeaten in a fair few games," said Kramny in an interview with DFB.de. "We’ve made it very difficult for teams to beat us. We need to keep this going."
Tuchel a youth coach at Stuttgart for five years
This new-found belief has not gone unnoticed. "They’re the hardest team to face at the moment in Germany. A very difficult opponent, a tricky draw," said Tuchel, who was youth coach at VfB between 2000 and 2005.
Should Dortmund win, then it will be a debut for Tuchel in a DFB Cup semi-final. He would also improve an already positive personal record against Kramny - in 1994, Tuchel and SSV Ulm triumphed 1-0 against a 1. FC Nürnberg side containing Jürgen Kramny.
