Thomas Tuchel confirmed as England’s new manager from 2025 – live | England

Let’s not forget the outpouring of love for Sven-Göran Eriksson, England men’s first foreign manager, after his death earlier this year.

Yes, there was a predictably furore when Eriksson was appointed, but ultimately he was judged on results. Nobody would have mentioned his nationality had England won the World Cup in 2006, and the same is true for Tuchel 20 years later.

Two decent, differing comments from below the line.

On paper at least, this is about as good an appointment as England could have made. So, I guess, over to you, Thomas Tuchel.

Fwiw I think that the media and fan obsession with an England manager being English is a little silly – not least if you couple it with many questioning the credentials of the likes of Southgate. It is nearly 35 years since an English manager (Howard Wilkinson) won the top division of English football. There are no credentials to be had.

I do not think it to be silly. Every coach that has won the World Cup has come from the same country, and only one foreign coach has won the Euros (Otto Rehhagel for Greece in 2004).

Having a foreign coach means we have failed to produce top class coaches despite the investment into our coaching facilities.

An email from Tom Leonard:

I think Tuchel’s perceived argumentative nature is overblown and exaggerated. You have to look at the context of his falling outs. At Bayern he got caught up in the backstage, politicking that saw Kahn and Salihamadic leave and an old guard that never seemed to want him in the first place. At Chelsea he got along fine with Abramovich when all he was asked to do was coach. It was only when Boehly’s disruptive blue sky bullshit came in that there was problems. And at PSG his team was overloaded with £200m primadona attackers he didn’t want while being expected to win the Champions League every season, and even then he got them as close as anyone. I think he’s a great manager.

Just a reminder for anyone frothing at the mouth that some of the world’s most important male football nations are also managed by foreign managers. This is just a small selection, there are countless others. Tuchel is not a seminal appointment in that regard.

Portugal are managed by Roberto Martínez, a Belgian.

Uruguay are managed by Marcelo Bielsa, an Argentinian.

Belgium are managed by Domenico Tedesco, an Italian-German.

USA are managed by Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentinian.

Algeria are managed by Vladimir Petkovic, a Swiss.

Colombia are managed by Néstor Lorenzo, an Argentinian.

Sweden are managed by Jon Dahl Tomasson, a Dane.

Prince William, patron of the FA, has tweeted his support for Tuchel.

John Cross, in the Daily Mirror, writes that Tuchel’s German’s nationality shouldn’t be an issue.

Clearly the FA’s preferred option would always be an English manager and a coach who came through the St George’s Park system – otherwise it highlights the fact they are not producing homegrown managers.

But from day one, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham held up Sarina Wiegman as an example as a Dutch coach who led the Lionesses to Euros glory at Wembley and the reason why they would go for the best candidate for the job. That is Tuchel. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was another candidate while Graham Potter was never really in the frame and Tuchel’s track record also puts him in a different bracket.

This is the manager who has actually seen off Guardiola, leading Chelsea to glory in the 2021 Champions League final against Manchester City.

The fact Tuchel is German may have some England fans and critics jumping up and down but he was hugely popular during his time at Chelsea. In fact, it would not be too much of a stretch to describe him as an Anglophile as he loved London, enjoyed English culture and was loved here, too.

The Daily Star’s headline was more light-hearted.

Sam Wallace, the Daily Telegraph’s chief football writer, wrote on Monday that he thinks the manager of England should be English, three days after making the case for Pep Guardiola taking the job.

The full piece is here (behind a paywall).

UK press reaction

Our report on Thomas Tuchel’s appointment

FA CEO Mark Bullingham: ‘Tuchel gives us the best chance of winning the 2026 World Cup’

Thomas Tuchel: ‘This is a huge privilege’

Confirmed details:

• Tuchel will be assisted by English coach Anthony Barry, who is currently the assistant manager for the Portugal national team under Roberto Martínez. Tuchel and Barry worked together at Chelsea and Bayern.

• Tuchel and Barry will begin work on 1 January 2025 before the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup. He has been given an 18-month contract until after that tournament in the US.

• The decision to recruit Tuchel and Barry was approved by the FA Board early last week, with Tuchel signing his contract on Tuesday 8 October (interestingly two days before the defeat to Greece). The announcement was delayed to minimise distraction around the international camp.

• Interim head coach Lee Carsley will remain in charge of England through to the conclusion of the Nations League group stage next month, with games away to Greece and at home to Republic of Ireland. Carsley will then return to lead England’s Under-21s.

Tuchel is confirmed as England manager!

Here’s Jacob Steinberg on Tuchel as a tactician and coach:

One of Thomas Tuchel’s old bosses calls him a “footballaholic”. The image is of a man who spends every minute of every day poring over the game’s tactical intricacies. No wonder Tuchel quickly made good on his promise to turn Chelsea into a team that nobody would relish playing after inheriting a broken unit from Frank Lampard in January 2021.

They were champions of Europe four months later, stunning Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in a tense final in Porto after perfectly carrying out Tuchel’s plan. It was a remarkable achievement. Chelsea were flailing in mid-table when the German who has agreed to be England’s next manager took over. They were shipping goals at an alarming rate. Undeterred, Tuchel immediately ironed out the flaws and introduced a 3-4-2-1 system that turned Chelsea into the stingiest team in Europe.

The full article here.

For those that are arguing that Tuchel has a prickly character, I think it’s worth remembering his statement when leaving Chelsea. It was heartfelt and honest when it could easily have been vindictive and bitter.

“This is one of the most difficult statements I have ever had to write – and it is one which I hoped I would not need to do for many years. I am devastated that my time at Chelsea has come to an end. This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.

“This is a club where I felt at home, both professionally and personally. Thank you so much to all the staff, the players and the supporters for making me feel very welcome from the start.”

In hindsight sacking Tuchel was a huge mistake with the Blues since struggling under Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and (to a lesser extent) Mauricio Pochettino.

This made me laugh.

Press conference scheduled for 1.30pm BST

“Can somebody explain why he is so disliked in Germany?” emails Michael Abbott.

First off, I’m not sure that dislike is the right phrase. Remember that Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich, wanted to keep him as manager last season, but ultimately Tuchel walked. He is certainly well respected in his homeland and so nearly beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final last season.

It’s true, though, that he’s not Germany’s No 1 son. Tuchel has managed in Germany with Mainz, Dortmund and Bayern, but the majority of the silverware he has won has been in England and France. His stewardship at Bayern and Dortmund (post-Klopp) was often fraught.

An excerpt from Barney Ronay’s piece.

With Tuchel now on the verge, it seems the current executive are in fact close to an objectively impressive piece of recruitment. While objectivity has never really had much place around here, Tuchel will represent a significant departure in two obvious ways.

For starters, this would be the first time the FA has appointed a coach who has worked in England and won the European Cup. Fabio Capello had the second of these, and undertook the first with all the infectious enthusiasm of a man cleaning out a particularly noxious cat litter tray. Don Revie and Bobby Robson won European trophies. Sven-Göran Eriksson hoovered up some high-spec silverware.

But Tuchel is something more specific. This is a former Uefa men’s coach of the year, who led two clubs to the final of the Champions League in three years. Plus, of course, alongside quite a few misses, he has that obvious recent major final victory, achieved with an English team, or at least one containing three English players in the squad for the final.

If the idea is to retain the possession-centred systems football of the England DNA years, while infusing this with some knowledge of how to actually win big games in the saddle; if being sacked for failing to appreciate Todd Boehly’s Monopoly-on-acid vision of team building can be considered in retrospect a massive tick; then Tuchel fits the job description very well.

Read the full article here.

What we know so far

Preamble