Tuchel for England
After the impressive yet ultimately trophyless reign of Gareth Southgate came to an end, England named elite tactician Thomas Tuchel as their new head coach. Ian Waterhouse asks if the German can finally end the Three Lions’ major tournament drought.
July 30, 1966, is a date etched in the minds of all English football fans no matter their age. Wembley Stadium was filled with 96,924 spectators, West Germany were the opposition and at 3pm Gottfried Dienst from Switzerland blew his whistle to signal kick-off for the World Cup Final. An action-packed 120 minutes of on-field action later and England lifted the Jules Rimet trophy to become world champions.Since then, the hype surrounding England at every major tournament is deafening. The song ‘Three Lions’ with the line ‘Football’s Coming Home’ is sung by England fans at every home and away game despite being viewed as arrogant by many opposition teams and supporters. However, there is an underlying message to the song which if listened to in its entirety depicts the Three Lions failure to replicate their 1966 triumph and the pain of being a supporter. By the time the 2026 World Cup comes around, 30 years of hurt will have become 60 and many feel enough is enough, especially with the crop of talent now at the Three Lions’ disposal.
No other country can boast being able to select the current European Golden Shoe, Gerd Muller Trophy, and joint Euro 2024 and 2023-24 Champions League top scorer in Harry Kane. England also boast the current Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year, Champions League Young Player of the Year, and 2023 Golden Boy in Jude Bellingham, as well as Premier League’s Player and Young Player of the 2023-24 season in Phil Foden and Cole Palmer. The list goes on. The array of talent on offer is vast but a strong pool of players is no guarantee of success. Gareth Southgate came close by reaching two European Championship finals but still fell short. This has led the English FA to take an approach they have tried twice before with relatively little reward, in hiring a foreign coach. However, there is a feeling that this time, they may have hit the jackpot.At the beginning of 2025, German Thomas Tuchel will take charge of the England national team on a contract that will take him until the end of the 2026 World Cup. It is a break from the norm for the English Football Association, who were known for handing out long term contracts, and is a clear indication that winning the World Cup is the only definition of success having suffered agonising defeats in the past two European Championship finals.
Fortunately for England, Tuchel is a man with a track record of making an instant impact, winning the Trophée des Champions in his very first game in charge of French heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and then going on to win the Ligue 1 title in his first full season in charge. Then after moving to Premier League side Chelsea halfway through the 2020-21 season with the club struggling he would go on to guide them to a top four place and the Champions League final, in which they would beat Manchester City 1-0 thanks to a first half Kai Havertz goal to lift the coveted trophy.England’s long game is now over with the appointment of Tuchel but what will he bring to the side?Despite overseeing tremendous progress during his time at the helm, his predecessor Southgate was criticised for his cautious tactics and not being able to get the best out of a side heavily weighted with attacking options in a system that often saw main striker Kane dropping deep and struggling to get into the game, an issue which became greatly apparent at Euro 2024. Tuchel prefers a slightly more possession focused style of play and often utilised a 3-4-2-1 formation at Chelsea with two wingers acting as ‘double 10’s’ who could also drop deep to give passing options when playing out from the back. At Borussia Dortmund he adopted a 4-1-4-1 formation which allowed Die Schwarzgelben to overload the midfield and create space out wide forcing attacking rapidity from the flanks, while at Bayern Munich he favoured 4-2-3-1. In short, his approach is extremely detail oriented and he likes to adapt to his players’ strengths when choosing a formation, while drilling down into the minutiae of the opposition’s weaknesses.He has been labelled as a ‘tactical Chameleon’ for his knowledge and flexibility and has shown he is more than capable at adapting to any in-game situation. With the likes of Kane, Bellingham, Foden, Palmer, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Declan Rice – among others – all at his disposal it is believed that going forward England will pose more of a threat than under Southgate and an adaptability not seen in the Three Lions under the previous management.
For all of Tuchel’s undeniable tactical ability there does remain one question mark. His temperament. During his time in charge at Borussia Dortmund, club chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke described Tuchel as a ‘difficult person’ with the pair enduring a strained relationship throughout. A similar scenario existed with the PSG hierarchy with Tuchel and the club’s sporting director Leonardo at loggerheads after the German criticised the club saying he ‘felt more like a politician than a coach’.At Chelsea, he was infamously involved in a heated exchange with then Tottenham manager Antonio Conte and was fined and given a touchline ban for improper conduct by the FA. Even Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly reportedly described Tuchel as ‘a nightmare to deal with on recruitment’. In September 2022 he was dismissed from the Blues and later took up the role of head coach with Bayern Munich where in just 61 games in charge he managed to win the Bundesliga in his first few months before leaving just over a year later with figures at the club noting Tuchel’s ‘disregard for team hierarchy’.So there has been negativity at times, but the 51-year-old is proven as an elite coach and is easily one of the most respected tacticians in Europe, with England’s decision to appoint him representing an almighty statement of intent.
Praise has arrived for Tuchel throughout his career with even Pep Guardiola expressing his admiration saying, ‘He’s so creative, one of the few managers I learn from’. It seems then that on the face of it, Tuchel appears to be something of a flawed genius. Results follow quickly and that may be why an 18-month contract with England could be the perfect remedy to nearly 60 years of no silverware – but the reins could so easily have been handed to someone else. Interim manager Lee Carsley appeared to come close to securing the position for himself and would have followed in the footsteps of Southgate by being promoted from leading the national team’s U21 side. Widely tipped as the favourite and the FA’s preferred choice for the full-time role, Carsley started his interim tenure with impressive wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland. However, defeat to Greece put paid to his chances of taking the role on a permanent basis and even so, by that time talks with Tuchel were at a very advanced stage. The FA claims they spoke to 10 candidates including ‘some English managers’ but who these people are, have remained firmly confidential. However, that hasn’t stopped the speculation with Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe one of the most talked about potential candidates along with the currently out of work Graham Potter. Even Pep Guardiola was mentioned with rumours of an approach during the summer as he entered the final year of his contract, which was only extended by a further year in November.England’s all or nothing approach this time around is one to be admired; no longer are the FA playing the long game. Gareth Southgate deserves praise for the infrastructure, mindset, and pride he has returned to the national setup but he lacked a couple of key ingredients: a winning mentality and certain level of arrogance that is often required to go from nearly men to winners.
That is almost certainly what Tuchel will bring. With so many top quality attacking players to choose from, he’ll be expected to be attack-minded and allow his team to play with much more creative freedom than what has been witnessed from the Three Lions at recent major tournaments. A winning mentality when coming against the very best sides is also something he needs to implement, especially when games at the top level of international football are often decided by the finest of margins.It’s now or never for England under Thomas Tuchel. It will be a rollercoaster of a ride and one that will end in victory or disaster. Whatever happens, it’s worth the risk.
