It should all boil down to one question: Do you want to end 60 years of gut-churning, mind-bending misery and win the 2026 World Cup or are you going to spend the next 18 months or so griping about the Football Association appointing a German to be England’s new manager?
Of course it’s dismaying that the best man for the job isn’t from these shores and didn’t grow up playing football in an English park with jumpers for goalposts or on Blighty’s cobbled side streets.
But these guys are no longer around to rise like some mythical Arthurian knight and sweep all enemies asunder on the way to immortality.
The Football Association kept talks with new manager Thomas Tuchel under wraps, appointing him as Gareth Southgate’s successor in a move shrouded in secrecy and now there’s a 51-year-old born in the Bavarian market town of Krumbach where the population is just 13,000 in charge of our national team.
Yes, it would be ironic if a German led England to the first World Cup triumph since Sir Alf Ramsey and the Boys of ’66 beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley but if that really upsets anyone just remember it will definitely be an Englishman who scores the winning goal in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York, on Sunday, July 19, 2026.
Tuchel has consistently celebrated success as a coach, winning two Ligue 1 titles with Paris Saint-Germain before taking them to the 2020 Champions League final where they were narrowly beaten in Lisbon by Bayern Munich.
The following season he was back in Portugal with Chelsea where he outsmarted Pep Guardiola as Chelsea won the Champions League after just six months in charge at Stamford Bridge but, after falling out with Blues owner Todd Boehly, he went to Bayern Munich and things didn’t really work out there.
The difference with England is Tuchel won’t be involved with the day-to-day politics at a huge club stifled by ego and won’t fall out about transfer targets but he will be able to put his innovative footballing philosophies in place with an outstanding squad at his disposal.
England are joint favourites for the World Cup with Brazil, who are in a state of flux and considering appointing a foreign manager themselves, at 7/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and many more bookies and that will look a bargain before too long. Snap it up.
• Alan Ball famously said when taking charge at Pompey: ‘This is Portsmouth, people go to war from this city.’ That’s exactly what will happen at the Copper Box in London on Saturday when south coast stylist Michael McKinson fights South African Tulani Mbenge for the vacant IBO welterweight title.
Mikey’s only defeat in 27 professional fights was to the highly respected Vergil Ortiz Jr a couple of years ago and since then he has been frustrated at being denied chances against the best with Conor Benn among those who have preferred to avoid his fast fists and pinpoint punching. McKinson will win and is 4/6 with BoyleSports.
• This year’s Flat season bows out in style at Ascot on Saturday when mudlark Calandagan will thrive on the soft to heavy ground and beat Economics, who won’t appreciate the going, and Los Angeles, third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last week, to win the Champions Stakes at 15/8 with BetMGM.
MORE : The new England manager is German and so what? Judge Thomas Tuchel only on what he wins
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MORE : Manchester United sent message to Thomas Tuchel before he agreed England job
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