October 17 – In his first press conference just hours after he was appointed England’s new manager, Thomas Tuchel said all the right things as the German won over the sceptics with an effortless blend of honesty, self-assurance and charm.
But there were moments that left his audience and millions watching on television somewhat bemused.
Asked why he had only signed an 18-month contract, he acknowledged it could be win the World Cup in 2026 or bust.
“I don’t know,” Tuchel said when asked about extending the deal. “It depends. Let’s judge it when we have done it. If we decide it was a failure, then we will not continue. If we decide it was not a failure, then we will continue. No one can predict the future.”
More eye-opening perhaps was FA boss Mark Bullingham’s revelation that as many as 10 candidates had been interviewed for the job, including English contenders.
Critics of Tuchel’s appointment have made the point that England were supposed to have created a pathway for Gareth Southgate’s successor at the English Football Association’s much-touted national football centre, St George’s Park.
The job in the end didn’t go to Southgate’s interim replacement, under-21 boss Lee Carsley, but Bullingham dismissed the idea that bringing in another overseas coach was a backward step and proof that the concept of bringing through talented English coaches had failed.
“Our pathway is really strong, both from a coaches and players point of view,” he insisted, citing the fact that most elite managers at club level in the country are foreign.
“I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football. We are not quite in that place at the moment.
“As we set out our process, our priority was to find someone that can give our players the best possible chance to win. We have found that, and we have got Thomas – and we are delighted with that. In the background, we have got to keep helping our young coaches to get the best opportunities they can, and to get them good opportunities at clubs. We would love to have more English coaches managing in the Premier League, for example. I think there is a balance there.”
Tuchel, the former Chelsea, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich coach who has appointed an Englishman, Anthony Barry, as his No 2, called his new role “the biggest in world football”.
“Hopefully I can convince people that I am proud to be England manager. I think everyone has their opinion and I can understand the opinion: ‘I would fancy an English coach more for the English team’. But I think we deserve a fair chance, we deserve the credit for having a good record in the country.”
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