As with many other awards shortlists in world football, the nominee announcement for The Best FIFA Men’s Coach honor garnered much criticism. For one, the shortlist included Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. While Bielsa led Leeds to a long-awaited Premier League promotion, many pointed out that there were other much more deserving candidates who should have been on the shortlist over the Argentine manager.
Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas is showing his support for Paris Saint-Germain’s Thomas Tuchel and why the German manager deserved to be on the shortlist. It is not every day that a Marseille manager goes out to publicly back a PSG manager, but this matter is one that Villas-Boas feels strongly about. Villas-Boas further spoke during a recent press conference (via RMC Sport) about why Tuchel deserved a selection for this shortlist.
“We have a strained relationship but Tuchel is a great professional,” Villas-Boas said. “That he is not in the five coaches nominated for the FIFA The Best trophy is a scandal.
“Bielsa must win a prestigious trophy for his career, everyone recognizes it. But not in the five best coaches in the world in 2020. It’s a scandal. He won the Championship, where are we going? He only won one trophy, Tuchel won four, plus [appeared] in the Champions League final.”
Tuchel did have a strong case to be on the shortlist over Bielsa. But nonetheless, had Tuchel been picked to be among the five shortlisted for this award, he likely would not go on to win the honor either way considering FC Bayern Munich’s Hansi Flick is the favorite to claim the award.
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