Former Germany international Malik Fathi has lifted the lid on Thomas Tuchel's rather unorthodox training methods, while maintaining that the ex-Dortmund man would be a perfect fit for Paris Saint-Germain.
The Ligue 1 side are yet to announce a successor for Unai Emery, who decided to step down at the end of the season after failing to advance from the Champions League last-16 for the second season running.
Tuchel, who replaced Jurgen Klopp at BVB in 2015 before leaving the club two years later, has a burgeoning reputation as a tactician – and Fathi revealed that he is a strange figure to work with.
"He is a guy who sees the bigger picture. He also works with mental coaching and he always considers how to motivate his players the best way. Tuchel has a very strong personality and he is unique in some ways. That separates normal coaches from world-class coaches," the left-back, who played under Tuchel at Mainz, explained to Goal.
"Furthermore, he is a perfectionist and makes special plans before every game. He loves football and thinks about it very meticulously. Because of these skills he deserves to be known as a top coach. In the past, the media criticised his methods in training.
"If you work with Tuchel as a player you have to get yourself in his methods. It's important to be intelligent because these methods can be very complex sometimes. He demands a great deal from his players – but always in a fair way. What he demands from himself he also demands from his players. If you try to work the way he wants you can improve yourself every day. But if you don't accept the way he trains it will be very difficult under him.
Fathi added that some of Tuchel's training drills caused some consternation from the Mainz players, especially during a pre-season exercise that took place in the mountains.
"Sometimes he does things on the training ground that do not have much in common with a usual football field at first view. Mentally that's a big challenge to deal with. It's very important to have a lot of football intelligence," he said.
"In our pre-season camp we travelled to the mountains one time to get to know each other and become a better team. To confront our fears we had to climb down a cliff-like rock wall and it became obvious that Tuchel himself was not afraid of such heights. He cursed all the time and I thought something like: 'what the hell am I doing here?'
"But he was the coach, it was his idea, he wanted to motivate us, so he wanted to lead that exercise being a role model for us. In moments like this you realized that Tuchel is not the big boss, but a part of the group. You can communicate to him as an equal.
"I'm sure that he will fit in at a big club like PSG. He is a special and very individual coach – different to everyone else and always trying to use his own methods. If one accepts these methods Tuchel can make big clubs very successful in a sustainable way.
"I personally don't know Neymar, but I'm convinced that he can handle big players like him. But Tuchel is not the kind of coach that will give him a special status. He will treat him like everyone else in the team. Neymar will encounter a coach he has to subordinate himself to."
Niko Kovac is another old friend of Fathi, the pair having starred together in Hertha's backline at the start of the 21st century.
And Fathi recalls one unfortunate incident involving the new Bayern coach that had negative consequences for his prized sports car.
"If I see Niko Kovac and Pal Dardai today I sometimes think, 'what the fuck?' In a short period of time both became established as coaches and they do great jobs. I really respect that," he said.
"When we played together in Berlin I was at the beginning of my career and Niko already was an international with much experience. Back then he was a leader and everybody respected him. Unfortunately I took a toll on his nerves very early.
"I was 20 and after our training session I went to drive home. When I took my car out of my parking space I unfortunately crashed into Niko's Porsche. So I had to go back to the training ground and confess to him that I smashed his car. It was a terrible moment for me. In the end I had to pay for the repair but Niko was not very angry.
"Of course he was a player who got loud in the dressing room sometimes – he always had the necessary personality. He does not scream wildly, but radiates a certain peace in his nature. But when it became too colourful within the team, he was one of the players who banged on the table.
"There are players who just scream for the sake of it, but definitely Niko is not one of those. He has the intelligence to see when it is necessary to speak out. Otherwise he probably would not have made it to Bayern."