Grading Thomas Tuchel on His First 6 Months in Charge of Borussia Dortmund

Thomas Tuchel had some enormous footsteps to fill when he agreed to become Borussia Dortmund's new head coach in April 2015. His predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, had led the Black and Yellows to their most successful era in a decade, winning two Bundesliga titles, while also branding a playing style that shapes the German game to this day.

Replacing Klopp, who became a legend with the Ruhr side not only because of his success but also his captivating personality, was a huge task for the 42-year-old. At the halfway point of his first season at the club, he's passed that test with flying colours.

Before we give out our grade for Tuchel's first six months in charge of the club, let's take a look at his body of work so far.

Public Image

Some supporters met Tuchel's appointment with reservations because of his public image from his days in charge of FSV Mainz.

Unlike the man he succeeded—Klopp's skills as a conductor of the masses have been on display since his first day on Merseyside at current club Liverpool, too—Tuchel was portrayed by the German media as being a brusque know-it-all with a temper. The "sideline-pacing, referee-excoriating Tuchel," as Deutsche Welle's Jefferson Chase called the coach in March, seemingly lacked the integrative qualities his predecessor had in abundance.

Now, one can firmly say those fears have proved to be unfounded. Sure, the 42-year-old doesn't crack as many jokes in press conferences as Klopp did, he doesn't have a seemingly never-ending repertoire of one-liners and he doesn't emcee the crowd in Signal Iduna Park, but the culture change at Dortmund hasn't had any negative effects on the club.

On the contrary, one could argue that it has refocused the club. Thomas Hennecke of German magazine Kicker wrote (h/t Andy Brassell of FourFourTwo.com): "The team is the star, not the coach."

Playing Style

In short, Tuchel's biggest task was to adjust Dortmund's football to reflect their status as favourites in almost every game they'll play over the course of a season. 

As tactics blogger Constantin Eckner wrote for Yellowwallpod.com, "the later phase of the Klopp era at Borussia Dortmund unfolded his tactical limitations, as he was not able to introduce a stable, more possession-orientated style that was required against deep-sitting Bundesliga sides."

To reinvigorate the Black and Yellows, it didn't require a revolution, but an evolution.

Brassell wrote: 

"

By last season, it was plain that experiments to find a plan B had failed—so while Dortmund could still mix it with Arsenal and Galatasaray in continental competition, they were frustrated (and beaten) by modest opposition including Hamburg and Hannover back at Signal Iduna Park.

Under Tuchel, there’s another approach—and a plan C, D and E. His Dortmund know when to press and when to sit off, when to go for the jugular and when to keep possession and kill the pace of the game, to recuperate. They can probe and pick locked defences too, which wasn’t the case last season.

"

Dortmund's focus on ball retention and position play gives them a great level of comfort in games they struggled with in the later stages of Klopp's time in charge. They quickly found an identity under Tuchel and then evolved during the season so far. That's all the supporters could've hoped for.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Results

It only takes a quick glance at the league table to see why Tuchel's first half-year at the helm has been a resounding success. They're second with 38 points, a number they only reached in April last season, when Tuchel was already confirmed as the new boss for the current campaign.

The Black and Yellows lost only five of their 30 matches across all competitions and were only truly outplayed in their 5-1 loss at Bayern Munich.

However, one of their losses came at a most inopportune time: Losing 1-0 at FC Krasnodar meant they'd end up second in their UEFA Europa League group. They got their comeuppance with a difficult draw that paired them with FC Porto.

"

Dortmund, the best team in the Europa League, are headed for a 2nd-place finish in Group C. Tuchel trolling the knockout draw like what.

— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) December 10, 2015"

Our Grade: A-

The Europa League is the only real blemish on an otherwise fabulous first six months for Thomas Tuchel. Considering where they came from at the outset of the season and the huge task this job would've presented to any new head coach coming in, the 42-year-old has exceeded expectations across the board.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.