Ex-Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick reveals how he saved Thomas Tuchel from bar job to kick-start coaching career as England boss prepares for first game

Former Manchester United boss Rangnick has always been a very respected coach in the German footballing scene who is often looked up to by younger managers. One of those managers was Tuchel, who played under the Austrian at SSV Ulm, where the German retired at the age of just 25.

Tuchel feared that his time with the sport of football was over after his retirement as he took up work behind a bar. However, Rangnick, who noticed Tuchel's suitability for management during his time at Ulm, decided to urge the German to get back into the sport as a coach.

Speaking to BBC Sports, Rangnick said: "We got to know each other back in 1998 when I became head coach of Ulm in the third division. At the time, I think Thomas was 25. Unfortunately, he had problems with his knee. What was obvious was that he was a very bright, intelligent kind of person for a football player.

"Being smart, bright, asking questions, always trying to get better, to improve. When you become a head coach, you can pretty precisely tell which player could become a coach. So when I found out he was working in a bar in Stuttgart, I called him and said to him 'What are you doing?', and he said, 'I have to earn my living there'.

"I said to him, 'Thomas, please, why don't you come to us to Stuttgart and work as a youth team coach?' We brought him together with the academy director at the time and that's how his coaching career started. For me, it was clear that he could become a very good coach. To foresee that he would become one of the best coaches we ever had, at that time, was difficult."

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has been doing well as a coach and was signed as England's boss. He is now set to undertake his first match as Three Lions boss later tonight against Albania.