Tuchel is confirmed as England manager!
Key events
Prince William, patron of the FA, has tweeted his support for Tuchel.
John Cross, in the Daily Mirror, writes that Tuchel’s German’s nationality shouldn’t be an issue.
Clearly the FA’s preferred option would always be an English manager and a coach who came through the St George’s Park system – otherwise it highlights the fact they are not producing homegrown managers.
But from day one, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham held up Sarina Wiegman as an example as a Dutch coach who led the Lionesses to Euros glory at Wembley and the reason why they would go for the best candidate for the job. That is Tuchel. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was another candidate while Graham Potter was never really in the frame and Tuchel’s track record also puts him in a different bracket.
This is the manager who has actually seen off Guardiola, leading Chelsea to glory in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.
The fact Tuchel is German may have some England fans and critics jumping up and down but he was hugely popular during his time at Chelsea. In fact, it would not be too much of a stretch to describe him as an Anglophile as he loved London, enjoyed English culture and was loved here, too.
The Daily Star’s headline was more light-hearted.
Sam Wallace, the Daily Telegraph’s chief football writer, wrote on Monday that he thinks the manager of England should be English, three days after making the case for Pep Guardiola taking the job.
The full piece is here (behind a paywall).
UK press reaction
The news of Tuchel’s imminent appointment broke late on Monday. Here is a selection of some of the UK Media’s reaction.
The Daily Mail had the following as their back page piece. It is worth flagging that the article does not have a byline. It was simply written by ‘Mail Sport Reporter’, according the online version.
Now we have Thomas Tuchel, a German with a questionable managerial background and an FA running around like headless chickens in a panic to get in first before Manchester United. Lee Carsley clearly wasn’t the right man, but is this REALLY the best we can do?
Has nobody learned from the ‘take-the-money-and-run’ attitude of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello?
And what does this say about the English coaching system? How insulting, ignorant and unforgivably short-sighted. Would Spain or France take this approach?
We may have made an exception for the mighty Pep Guardiola, but now we have a gun for hire who owes us nothing and will pass through our game with a huge cheque and no connection to the fans or players.
This is a dark day for English football. We are the laughing stock of the world game.
Our report on Thomas Tuchel’s appointment
FA CEO Mark Bullingham: ‘Tuchel gives us the best chance of winning the 2026 World Cup’
We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him. Our recruitment process has been very thorough.
Before the EUROs we had a contingency plan and outlined exactly the qualities we would be looking for in a coach. Since Gareth resigned, we have worked through the candidate pool, meeting a number of coaches and evaluating them against that criteria. Thomas was very impressive and stood out with his vast expertise and his drive. Anthony is a top English talent and also has international experience with Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Portugal.
Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026.
I would like to thank Lee for stepping up and doing everything we asked of him – he is a very talented coach and a major part of our England pathway. He will now focus on retaining the U21 Euro title in the summer. These are exciting times for England fans at senior and MU21 level, and we look forward to welcoming Thomas and Anthony when they begin work in January.
Thomas Tuchel: ‘This is a huge privilege’
I am very proud to have been given the honour of leading the England team. I have long felt a personal connection to the game in this country, and it has given me some incredible moments already. To have the chance to represent England is a huge privilege, and the opportunity to work with this special and talented group of players is very exciting.
Working closely with Anthony [Barry] as my assistant coach, we will do everything we can to make England successful and the supporters proud. I want to thank the FA for their trust and I am looking forward to starting our journey together.
Confirmed details:
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Tuchel will be assisted by English coach Anthony Barry, who is currently the assistant manager for the Portugal national team under Roberto Martínez. Tuchel and Barry worked together at Chelsea and Bayern.
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Tuchel and Barry will begin work on 1 January 2025 before the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup. He has been given an 18-month contract until after that tournament in the US.
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The decision to recruit Tuchel and Barry was approved by the FA Board early last week, with Tuchel signing his contract on Tuesday 8 October (interestingly two days before the defeat to Greece). The announcement was delayed to minimise distraction around the international camp.
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Interim head coach Lee Carsley will remain in charge of England through to the conclusion of the Nations League group stage next month, with games away to Greece and at home to Republic of Ireland. Carsley will then return to lead England’s Under-21s.
Tuchel is confirmed as England manager!
Here’s Jacob Steinberg on Tuchel as a tactician and coach:
One of Thomas Tuchel’s old bosses calls him a “footballaholic”. The image is of a man who spends every minute of every day poring over the game’s tactical intricacies. No wonder Tuchel quickly made good on his promise to turn Chelsea into a team that nobody would relish playing after inheriting a broken unit from Frank Lampard in January 2021.
They were champions of Europe four months later, stunning Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in a tense final in Porto after perfectly carrying out Tuchel’s plan. It was a remarkable achievement. Chelsea were flailing in mid-table when the German who has agreed to be England’s next manager took over. They were shipping goals at an alarming rate. Undeterred, Tuchel immediately ironed out the flaws and introduced a 3-4-2-1 system that turned Chelsea into the stingiest team in Europe.
The full article here.
For those that are arguing that Tuchel has a prickly character, I think it’s worth remembering his statement when leaving Chelsea. It was heartfelt and honest when it could easily have been vindictive and bitter.
“This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to write – and it is one which I hoped I would not need to do for many years. I am devastated that my time at Chelsea has come to an end. This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.
“This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.”
In hindsight sacking Tuchel was a huge mistake with the Blues since struggling under Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and (to a lesser extent) Mauricio Pochettino.
This made me laugh.
Press conference scheduled for 1.30pm BST
FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, has scheduled a press conference at Wembley at 1.30pm BST, which will surely be Tuchel’s official unveiling.
“Can somebody explain why he is so disliked in Germany?” emails Michael Abbott.
First off, I’m not sure that dislike is the right phrase. Remember that Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich, wanted to keep him as manager last season, but ultimately Tuchel walked. He is certainly well respected in his homeland and so nearly beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final last season.
It’s true, though, that he’s not Germany’s No 1 son. Tuchel has managed in Germany with Mainz, Dortmund and Bayern, but the majority of the silverware he has won has been in England and France. His stewardship at Bayern and Dortmund (post-Klopp) was often fraught.
An excerpt from Barney Ronay’s piece.
With Tuchel now on the verge, it seems the current executive are in fact close to an objectively impressive piece of recruitment. While objectivity has never really had much place around here, Tuchel will represent a significant departure in two obvious ways.
For starters, this would be the first time the FA has appointed a coach who has worked in England and won the European Cup. Fabio Capello had the second of these, and undertook the first with all the infectious enthusiasm of a man cleaning out a particularly noxious cat litter tray. Don Revie and Bobby Robson won European trophies. Sven-Göran Eriksson hoovered up some high-spec silverware.
But Tuchel is something more specific. This is a former Uefa men’s coach of the year, who led two clubs to the final of the Champions League in three years. Plus, of course, alongside quite a few misses, he has that obvious recent major final victory, achieved with an English team, or at least one containing three English players in the squad for the final.
If the idea is to retain the possession-centred systems football of the England DNA years, while infusing this with some knowledge of how to actually win big games in the saddle; if being sacked for failing to appreciate Todd Boehly’s Monopoly-on-acid vision of team building can be considered in retrospect a massive tick; then Tuchel fits the job description very well.
Read the full article here.
What we know so far
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Tuchel is expected to be officially unveiled as England manager on Wednesday at a press conference from Wembley.
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Tuchel topped a list that also included Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and the interim manager, Lee Carsley, among others.
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The 51-year-old will be the third foreign manager of the men’s team and the first from Germany, after Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. Eddie Howe and Graham Potter were the leading English candidates but the FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, who led the recruitment process alongside the technical director, John McDermott, has long been clear that nationality should be no barrier to the role.
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England captain Harry Kane has spoken: “Until it’s announced obviously I can’t really comment, but we have to wait and see. Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. Fantastic coach, fantastic person, so I am sure the guys at the FA will contact me, when they know more about it.”
Preamble
Two days is a long time in football. On Monday, the Football Association had identified Pep Guardiola as its dream target to manage England men, with Thomas Tuchel believed to have reservations about the role. Now, the FA are on the verge on confirming the German at the new custodian of English football.
Who can complain about that? He’s a creative, winning manager, knows the English game, and it probably the outstanding candidate of those that are available (or who wants the job). That might only be half the role but Tuchel has nimbly managed difficult situations in the past at Chelsea and Bayern, and he already has the respect of the players. Oh, and at least there won’t be too much furore over whether Tuchel sings ‘God Save The King’.
We’ll be keeping abreast of the latest developments in this liveblog, bringing you any news and analysis.
Feel free to stick your oar in/get in touch with your own opinions. You can reach me via email: michael.butler@theguardian.com or @michaelbutler18.