Following the resignation of Gareth Southgate as England gaffer after his latest European Championship near-miss, the Football Association appointed Lee Carsley to the role on an interim basis for the Nations League games.
Carsley did as well as could be expected with England’s much-vaunted experiment, but amidst his own comments, whether he was not a world-class coach yet or that he could not wait to get back to his Under 21 job; he was not the man for the full time role, and whatever was going on with the team selection for the Greece defeat proved it.
As far as fans of the Three Lions knew, it had been put on the record that the new managerial search had not yet fully started, though enquiries had been made to the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
However, as if by magic, the fall out from Greece saw the FA move incredibly quickly to rather unexpectedly appoint former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss, Thomas Tuchel.
Carsley had remained the frontrunner in the sports betting uk market but a decisive decision was made to bring the Champions League winner into St Georges’ Park.
The 51-year-old will officially take charge on January 1st and has signed an 18-month contract. Presumably, he has been left standing instructions to play at least one striker until then.
The German was also saying all the right things. He wants England to free themselves from history and make dreams come true, as he now begins his own preparations for the head coach role.
One thing is for sure, although Tuchel comes with his own baggage regarding his perceived attitude, way of working and relationships with his superiors, he is by far the most successful and decorated gaffer England have had in over a decade.
We have to go back to Fabio Capello for such résumé and that did not exactly work out, so this is not a silver bullet, but it could certainly be interesting.
Sadly though, such is the wider English media, his appointment has largely played second fiddle to the fact he happened to be born in Germany.
A few jokes from the 1970s have been given an unfortunate second wind. Tuchel himself attempted humour by apologising for the fact he had a German passport, and in what might be the stupidest thing I have seen addressed in the world of sport, felt the need to comment on how he liked our National Anthem – but he had not yet decided whether to sing it ahead of games.
High-quality journalism at its best, because Tuchel’s skills as a manager and his suitability for the role are obviously secondary to his singing habits! It’s easy to forget that this is 2024…
Moving away from the nonsense, it is not unfair to say that Tuchel’s appointment could be a masterstroke. He’s won trophies in different leagues and has an excellent record in European competitions.
The differences between the club and international game offers uncertainty, as does Tuchel having not remained in the same role for longer than two years since 2015. England, and the FA, will hope that is not the case again or the Three Lions could quickly be back at square one.
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