So, almost three months to the day from when Gareth Southgate stepped down after a storied but agonisingly incomplete eight-year spell, we have a new England manager. And it may prove to be a true watershed moment. A German in charge of the England team; a concept that a small (and small-minded) percentage of the population simply cannot accept. Yet, that is not what makes the appointment so ground-breaking. No, the most fascinating thing about the events of the last 24 hours is that the FA may actually have finally got something right.
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first: The “England should only be managed by an Englishman” conundrum. It’s provoked significant debate, with opinions ranging from the articulate (Rory Smith of the New York Times, Gary Neville as per) to the borderline xenophobic/ridiculous (Dean Ashton, Harry Redknapp and The Daily Mail). I am not dismissing the argument in its entirety, but it is founded on some fairly shaky principles to say the least.
Firstly, the claims that the FA have somehow cheated by appointing a foreign coach, and have done what no other national federation would do, are significantly wide of the mark. Look at the International Football managerial scene right now: Portugal are managed by a Spaniard, Belgium by a German, Colombia (who have recently gone 28 consecutive games unbeaten) by an Argentinian. Even Brazil, arguably the proudest football nation of them all, were ready to move high and hell water to appoint an Italian- Carlo Ancelotti- before he ultimately decided to stay at Real Madrid. The idea of “our best against your best” is romantic but flawed. And that particular train left the station a long time ago.
The countries who have the luxury of only appointing managers of their own nationality are the ones who have the deepest pools of strong candidates to pick from, and the ones who are subsequently supplying managers for everyone else- Germany, Spain and Italy being the three main examples of this. England do not have that luxury, and this is where the argument has some relevance. Whilst appointing Thomas Tuchel was 100% the right decision (as the rest of this article will indicate), it should still sound a deafening alarm as to the state of the development pathway for elite English managers in this country.
The FA need to start putting things in place now, so that the next two to three managers after Tuchel are both English and well-qualified, not one or the other. If they’re looking for a place to start, how about enforcing a rule that all English clubs (crucially including the Premier League clubs) have to employ at least one Englishman on their senior managerial staff (be that assistant manager etc). Germany’s current golden generation of managers has been heavily influenced by how many worked under key figures like Ralf Rangnick in their early days (Tuchel and Nagelsmann are examples of this). Give young, upcoming coaches the chance to learn from the leading foreign managers we now have at most of our biggest clubs, so that they are better placed to take the top jobs later down the line.
When it comes to English candidates who are within their rights to feel hard done by this time around, we are really only talking about two people. Eddie Howe and Graham Potter were the names most touted as potential Southgate successors and both certainly have their merits. However, neither can honestly say they are proven winners at the very highest level. For some context to this, Howe and Potter have managed only 13 Champions League games between them. Tuchel has managed 67, including two finals and of course that remarkable triumph with Chelsea in Porto. He is, quite simply, in a different league to any possible English alternative.
For those still not convinced and who are ready to angrily scream the names Sven and Fabio at me, yes, it is true that England have had well-respected foreign managers before and it has not led to any notable upturn in the national team’s fortunes. My retort to that would be that appointing Tuchel now is not just a case of being wooed by the allure of an exotic foreign figure, but a perfect example of “right man, right time.” Sven and Capello came in when the England team were at a low ebb, needing to undertake significant rebuilds and instil culture changes (tasks that neither were particularly well suited to) whereas Tuchel will inherit a ridiculously talented team who have consistently reached the final stages of the most recent major tournaments.
And this is where choosing Tuchel starts to look like a masterstroke. That’s because, for all his obvious managerial talents, his career to this point has proven that he is at his best when used as a kind of footballing mafia cleaner, a la Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. Someone to come in, clean up someone else’s mess, turn the situation around (or win a trophy in the sporting sense), and then leave.
It’s basically what he did at Chelsea, with his Champions League win in 2021 being one of the finest coaching achievements of recent years, in turning an unfancied side into canny knockout specialists. His rigid and dynamic formation and tactics even spooked the mighty Pep Guardiola, beating him twice in the lead-up to the final and then “living in his head rent free” to the extent that Pep completely messed up his team selection and dropped Rodri for no apparent reason. That ability to provide a quick winning formula is what England need. Gareth Southgate has done all the hard yards and the hill climbs, all Tuchel needs to do is nail the sprint finish.
That’s why he has only signed a contract to the World Cup in 2026. Whatever happens in USA, Mexico and Canada- whether that be glory or failure- I don’t expect him to continue after that. This is a quick-fix solution, which perfectly suits both parties. A brief stint in international management has become the elite football manager’s version of a ‘semester abroad’- getting a crack at winning a prestigious trophy and then returning to the top tier of European club football, no matter how badly the excursion went. Look at Hansi Flick and Luis Enrique as recent examples of this. Win us the World Cup, Thomas, and then head on to Madrid or Milan or wherever else you fancy, safe in the knowledge you’ll never have to buy your own pint of John Smith’s or a Greggs’ sausage roll ever again.
So, now we’ve established that the “he has to be English” claim is a fruitless one and we’ve looked at the specifics of what makes Tuchel so suited to this England team, the final reason that his appointment was the right one is the simplest of all. FA CEO Mark Bullingham said during Tuchel’s unveiling today that they “wanted to get the best possible candidate.” And as loathe as I am to praise anything the FA do, I think they have managed to do precisely that.
Excluding those who were never going to take the job (Pep was clearly sounded out but unsurprisingly wasn’t interested) Tuchel is probably the outstanding available manager right now. He’s the last person not named Pep or Carlo to win the Champions League. His track record of getting to the final of every competition he entered with Chelsea proves he has a knack of winning knockout games. He knows a lot of the key players well. And his deft negotiating of the uncomfortable Roman Abramovich situation during his final months at Stamford Bridge showed he’s even adept at crisis management, which is inevitably going to be required at some point during his tenure as England coach.
I’d even go as far as to suggest that Thomas Tuchel is objectively the best manager England have ever appointed- at the time of his appointment. Previous England managers have obviously gone down in history for their subsequent achievements, but few would be able to match Tuchel’s CV at the moment when they started their tenure. And the one that could- Fabio Capello- was about fifteen years past his best by the time he was actually named manager, so that was a case of too little, too late.
So, with all that said, I will end on the most exciting prospect of them all. In appointing Thomas Tuchel, the FA have managed to do the unthinkable: They have ensured that England head into the next World Cup with not just arguably the best squad of all the nations, but with arguably the best manager as well. Anyone know the German for “it’s coming home?..”
George F Brown 