Soccer

Thomas Tuchel agrees deal to become new England manager

Former Chelsea coach has been out of work since leaving Bayern Munich

Thomas Tuchel has agreed a deal to take over as the new England manager. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Thomas Tuchel has agreed a deal to take over as the new England manager. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA Wire
David Hytner
Tue Oct 15 2024 - 19:43

Thomas Tuchel has agreed to become England’s manager after talks with the English Football Association accelerated on Tuesday. The 51-year-old will be the third foreign manager of the men’s team and the first from Germany.

The FA has had Tuchel on its shortlist to find Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor since the beginning of the process, a list that also included Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and the interim manager Lee Carsley among others.

It zeroed in on Tuchel, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021 – the highlight on an impressive CV. He has been out of work since leaving Bayern Munich in May.

Tuchel follows Sven-Göran Eriksson and Fabio Capello in taking the job as an overseas head coach. 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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Bullingham made the point during the European Championship in June that the England women head coach, Sarina Wiegman, is Dutch. In others words, the FA was and is perfectly happy to put its trust in someone from outside England.

There is no doubt that Tuchel is an anglophile. He speaks excellent English – a prerequisite for the FA in terms of an overseas candidate – and he embraced his 18 months or so at Chelsea, becoming a cult hero to their fans.

Tuchel’s skills as an orator and a leader came to the fore when he spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite Chelsea being owned at the time by a Russian, Roman Abramovich. Tuchel found that he loved the more personality-driven aspect of the British media.

Tuchel is uncompromising and left his previous four jobs under something of a cloud, reports of fallings-out with players and directors following his exits from – in chronological order – Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern.

On the other hand, when Tuchel hits his stride, he has the ability to energise and inspire, to build momentum. Hugely charismatic, he has a proven track record at the highest level, winning everything on the domestic front at PSG before narrowly failing to deliver them a maiden Champions League trophy, losing in the 2020 final to Bayern. He would make up for that on a personal level at Chelsea. At Dortmund, he had won the DFB-Pokal. At Bayern, he would win the Bundesliga.

Tuchel would be expected to bring the English coach Anthony Barry with him, having worked with him at Chelsea and Bayern. Barry is presently an assistant to Roberto Martinez with Portugal, and worked under Stephen Kenny with the Republic of Ireland earlier in his career.

The FA had given serious consideration to promoting former Ireland international midfielder Carsley on a permanent basis from his role as the England Under-21s coach only for doubts to emerge about his suitability, not to mention whether he actually wanted the job. Carsley was heavily criticised for the performance of his team in last Thursday’s 2-1 Wembley loss to Greece and has struggled at times to communicate effectively in media conferences.

The FA reached out to Guardiola at the beginning of the process but prising him away from City was always considered a long shot. Eddie Howe and Graham Potter have been the leading English candidates. Howe is focused on his work at Newcastle, where his contract has a release clause of about £5 million. Potter, between jobs after leaving Chelsea in April 2023, is leaning more towards a return to club management.

England captain Harry Kane, who signed for Tuchel’s Bayern Munich in 2023, said: “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.” – Guardian