The impending arrival of Ralf Rangnick at Manchester United has been welcomed by two of his proteges.
The German is set to be appointed as United's interim manager on a six-month contract, replacing the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rangnick handed Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel his first coaching gig, tending to the youth team at VfB Stuttgart, while he has also been a mentor to Liverpool supremo Jurgen Klopp.
Both have gone on to far surpass Rangnick's trophy haul, with Tuchel leading Chelsea to the Champions League, and Klopp bringing a Premier League trophy to Anfield the year after winning Europe's top prize.
"He helped me a lot because he was my coach and then he was one of the main figures to convince me to try coaching," Tuchel said on Friday, "So he had a huge influence on all of us at this time."
He showed us that it's not necessary to follow people to the toilet in football games
Chelsea play United in the Premier League on Sunday, but Rangnick won't have been installed in time to lock horns with his former pupil.
Expanding on his influence, Tuchel said, "He showed us that it's not necessary to follow people to the toilet in football games, because that was the belief in these days, that defenders follow strikers wherever they go.
"He showed us it's possible to defend everybody in a zone.
"But listen, before I get carried away and talk too much he's not been appointed yet, and let's respect everybody, let's respect Ralf, his decision, the club, and when things are done we can maybe talk about it."
Meanwhile, Klopp said Rangnick's arrival is bad news for United's rivals.
"United will be organised on the pitch," said Klopp.
"Between the coaches and in the football world in Germany, he is very highly regarded and rightly so. Wherever he was, he did an incredible job.
"He started as a young man at Stuttgart, coaching the reserve team, and kept going from there. Ulm getting to the Bundesliga was insane at the time, and he made his way up.
"We faced each other for the first time when I was a young coach and he was at Hannover.
"He might have forgotten, but they always played our opponent a week later so he called me, the young manager of Mainz and asked plenty of questions.
"I was happy big Ralf Rangnick was calling me, but he got all the information he needed. Then they got promoted [2002] and we didn't, so he still owes me!"
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