The Football Association’s decision to appoint Thomas Tuchel as England’s new manager will be seen by many as a betrayal of the national team’s vaunted journey from the national team’s headquarters at St George’s Park to the top and an insult to the talents of local manager.
German Tuchel will succeed Gareth Southgate, who held the role for eight years after coaching the England Under-21 team for three years, taking over on an interim basis from Lee Carsley, a manager who has traveled the same journey as Southgate through the FA development system.
Tuchel’s arrival is a radical and significant deviation from the path charted by the so-called “DNA” mantra of the FA uttered a decade ago by Dan Ashworth, the organisation’s then director of elite development, designed to establish a philosophy that runs through every English team.
England’s second consecutive defeat in the European Championship final this summer extended a barren streak stretching back to the 1966 World Cup for the men’s team, but Tuchel’s taking over could offend nationalist purists who will consider him as a sacrifice of principle for a quick solution on time. for the 2026 World Cup.
Should England’s manager be English – or the best for the job?
This will be one of the biggest questions swirling around Tuchel’s appointment, but no one can deny that the FA have failed to recruit one of the game’s elite figures with a proven track record of success.
The England national football team is not an experiment or a vanity project. He exists to succeed, to win trophies. It’s something the country’s men haven’t achieved in 58 years, so something had to change after the recent near misses under Southgate.
Nationality was not a concern when the England women’s team won Euro 2020 under Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman. It was an occasion for a national celebration.
There is a “best versus best” argument that has some validity when made in the context of international football, but the most valuable currency remains tangible success and only those with very long memories remember 1966.
The FA want to change that narrative and if that means thinking outside of England, so be it.
A Tuchel move will be viewed by skeptics through the prism of the Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello eras – particularly the latter, with the Italian barely bothering to learn the language – both departures from the English way who did not bring success despite the talent at their disposal.
There could even be specific criticism of the appointment of a German manager, traditionally seen as one of England’s biggest footballing rivals.
And the FA will also have to answer questions about the message this sends to England coaches, with Tuchel favored over former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter and Eddie Howe, who is committed to Newcastle United but has all the credentials for having been seriously considered.
The FA will say, with some justification, that it simply appointed the best man available for the job, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola an unattainable pipe dream and former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp out of reach .
Did the FA just want an English manager – or did they want the manager who will make the England team winners?
The answer to this question is Tuchel.
For this the FA deserves plaudits, but chief executive Mark Bullingham and technical director John McDermott, who led the recruitment process, will be well aware that there will be scrutiny and criticism alongside praise for achieving success Tuchel’s coup d’état.
And surely St George’s Park and all the coaches and development teams trained there can only benefit from having someone of Tuchel’s stature and success rate in the building? He won’t live on an island. The FA hopes he can leave his indelible mark on future generations of coaches.
Tuchel is also considered an Anglophile, his love of English players and the English game honed during a 20-month stay at Chelsea, during which time he won the Champions League in 2021, the Super UEFA Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup before being sacked in September 2022. He still remembers his time at Stamford Bridge fondly despite the sour ending.
He had already taken Paris St-Germain to the Champions League final, where they lost to Bayern Munich the year before his triumph with Chelsea, and since then he has won the Bundesliga with Bayern and was only only two minutes away from taking him to the final. season before being beaten by Real Madrid.
Tuchel has never hidden his admiration for the mentality of English football, leading captain Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern from Tottenham and then bringing in his former Spurs teammate Eric Dier. He was also close to signing another player now under his management with England, Kyle Walker from Manchester City.
Unlike Eriksson and Capello, his foreign predecessors as England manager, he has direct and recent experience of English football and the players he will inherit.
The FA’s decision will be controversial and contentious – but few can dispute the fact that it has appointed one of the great modern managers, an operator of the highest calibre.
England goes from diplomat to inflammatory
Southgate was an accomplished ambassador and diplomat as England manager, displaying a comprehensive worldview, a willingness to speak openly with a wider hinterland extending well beyond football. It was a quality that served him well when the waves spread beyond the field.
Tuchel, on the other hand, is a fiery personality known for his defiance of authority, high maintenance and occasional outspokenness. He does not possess the calm demeanor on the touchline that England have become accustomed to under Southgate. They will now have an explosive presence in the technical field.
He is also known for not sparing his players, with old footage of Tuchel in a fierce rage delivering an incendiary training pitch to Shawn Parker as he resurfaced at Mainz recently.
Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke described Tuchel as “a difficult person but a fantastic coach”, despite having a notoriously tense relationship with PSG sporting director Leonardo. He suggested Tuchel lacked respect for those above him, with the two men at odds over recruitment strategy in the so-called ‘Bling Bling’ era of superstars in Paris.
Tuchel, tired of managing events off the field at PSG, asked shortly before his dismissal in December 2020: “Am I still a manager or am I a sports politician, a sports minister?
The other side of his personality was seen by those who saw Tuchel at Chelsea where he could be charming, extremely humorous and incredibly astute, as well as act with great dignity and tact when forced to be the leader of a club in crisis when owner Roman Abramovich’s assets were frozen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tuchel was a figure of calm and reason, even insisting he would himself drive a team bus to Lille for a Champions League match in March 2022 if sanctions prevented them from flying.
The relationship with new Chelsea owner Toddy Boehly was difficult from the start as the club used a scattershot transfer policy. Tuchel spent exactly 100 days under the regime before being sacked.
Tuchel remains a very popular figure among Chelsea supporters, who regret seeing the coach who brought the Champions League back to London sacked.
In his new role, Tuchel will be able to put behind-the-scenes politics aside and focus on an area in which he is exceptional and has a proven track record.
And that’s what the FA will want with the bold decision to break out of its long-standing system in pursuit of the glory that has eluded it since 1966.
If Tuchel keeps his promises, the FA may feel that all the anxiety and external noise linked to the appointment will be worth it.
