Of course we have a certain history…but we don t know each other as well as everybody thinks.
So said Thomas Tuchel during a glowing assessment of his German compatriot Jurgen Klopp, not long after replacing club legend Frank Lampard in the Chelsea dugout in January.
You could be forgiven, though, for thinking there is a much stronger bond between two men from the same country, whose paths from young heavy-metal upstarts to coaching heavyweights have taken eerily similar paths.
There are striking facets in each man s style of play too. The high intensity pressing, the devastating speed of the counter-attack, the fluidity of the forwards.
Now, whether you are a believer in fate or coincidence, the two are set to battle in the Premier League for the fir…