Thomas Tuchel admits he admires Louis van Gaal for 'having the balls to speak what he thinks' after the Holland boss praised Chelsea's style of play in a press-conference outburst.
Earlier in the week, the former Manchester United boss raged at De Telegraaf journalist Valentijn Driessen, who claimed the 70-year-old enjoys defensive football 'like Chelsea and Liverpool' play.
German boss Tuchel brought in a 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-2 formation at Stamford Bridge when he arrived at the club in January of this year, but van Gaal fired back at the journalist, stating the Blues show 'you can attack incredibly well' with that formation.
Thomas Tuchel admits he admires Louis van Gaal for 'having the balls to speak what he thinks'
Holland boss van Gaal raged at claims earlier this week that he enjoys defensive football
Van Gaal also praised Tuchel for understanding how such a formation can deliver exciting football, and the former Paris Saint-Germain boss has now returned the favour, claiming it is 'nice' to hear the Dutchman talk about football 'with brutal honesty'.
'Somebody sent that to me. It was a pleasure to play against him as a very young coach in Germany when he was coach from Bayern Munich and he has this kind of brutal honesty when you talk to him or when he goes to the press conference, which is what I really love,' Tuchel told Sky Sports.
'He has really the balls to speak it out, what he thinks. Sometimes it's not to his advantage, but I think right now, it's nice to hear him talk about football.
'He has a certain age. He has a huge experience. He has influenced football in general with all his clubs, all his teams, on such a high level.
De Telegraaf journalist Valentijn Driessen (right) claimed van Gaal likes defensive football 'like Chelsea and Liverpool ' play
'Not just because he defended me in person, which was nice, of course, but in general, he is not afraid to speak out.
'Sometimes I or other colleagues maybe think ''let's not speak out'' because we'd just create trouble and we want to protect a calm atmosphere… But he's a nice guy, I like him.'
Tuchel - whose side face Aston Villa on Saturday - helped the Blues go from ninth in the Premier League to Champions League winners, while he also earned the west Londoners a top-four spot on the final day of last season.
And the 48-year-old insisted he agreed with van Gaal that his side have not prioritised defensive football at the expense of attacking play, stating that their focus remains on maintaining an 'active' style.
'Well, what is defensive and what is offensive? I think you can debate
