“Champions League Winner and Fiery Tactician: Why Thomas Tuchel Could Be England’s Next Head Coach”
At least now it’s clear why Lee Carsley spent last week addressing the media like a flustered 1950s salesman, awkwardly explaining why he might—or might not—be leaving his position. The news that the FA is in advanced talks with Thomas Tuchel for the England head coach role sheds light on the uncertainty surrounding the interim choice. Tuchel, a Champions League conqueror and fiery tactical zealot, could be exactly the winner England needs.
Carsley likely knew that something was brewing at the executive level, forced into a dance of deflection, saying everything and nothing at once. In hindsight, it was a masterclass in verbal juggling. Perhaps next time, Carsley could use his platform to explain dark matter or the paradox of Trigger’s Broom (“Well, hopefully…”).
It’s fitting, then, that the prospect of Thomas Tuchel as England’s head coach feels like an intriguing, baggage-heavy appointment, one that might not be a bad idea after all. In fact, Tuchel for England makes a lot of sense.
Initially, rumors of an approach last week were brushed off as typical agent chatter, a ploy to fish for job offers elsewhere. Historically, the FA has often been the easy target in these negotiations—job offers practically falling out of their pockets. Yet with Tuchel now on the verge, it seems the current leadership is on the brink of a genuinely impressive hire.
What stands out is that Tuchel’s appointment would mark two significant firsts. This would be the first time the FA has hired a coach who has both worked in England and won the Champions League. Fabio Capello, for example, had won the European Cup but showed about as much passion for English football as someone tasked with cleaning a particularly rancid litter box. Don Revie and Bobby Robson had won European trophies, and Sven-Göran Eriksson had collected high-profile silverware, but Tuchel represents something more specific.
Tuchel is a former UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year, having led two clubs to the Champions League final in three years. He also has a major recent victory in the competition, achieved with an English team, albeit one featuring only three English players in the squad for the final.
If the goal is to maintain England’s possession-based style while bringing in someone who knows how to win big matches, Tuchel is an ideal fit. And if being dismissed for failing to align with Todd Boehly’s chaotic approach to team-building is seen as a badge of honor, then Tuchel checks all the boxes.
The challenge with the England head coach job is that no other role is so influenced by unpredictable variables and irrationality. The second notable shift with Thomas Tuchel’s potential appointment—a point that, in an ideal world, wouldn’t even need to be discussed—is that Tuchel is German.
Eighty years ago, Britain was at war with Germany, and while only a small minority of people today might still consider this relevant, it’s clear the issue will be raised. It may come from the kind of media commentators who seem perpetually stuck in 1944, fighting the ghosts of past conflicts from the comfort of their armchairs. Though most see it as a non-issue, the fact it will be mentioned highlights just how strange and challenging this job is.
There is a serious aspect to this: it’s troubling that the debate will arise, even if it’s just a lazy nod to outdated stereotypes. The idea that being German carries an eternal association with the Third Reich, or sporting moments like Harald Schumacher’s foul on Patrick Battiston or Andreas Möller’s celebration at Wembley, is absurd.
Will Tuchel sing God Save the King? Likely, and with enthusiasm (though the King himself has more German heritage than English). Will he sing “Ten German Bombers”? Probably not—and should that stir outrage? No, because it doesn’t matter. In fact, it really, really doesn’t matter. The mere fact that such discussions might arise only underlines how oddly complex and fraught this role is.
So, the central question remains: can Tuchel succeed as England’s head coach? From the FA’s perspective, this is a genuine A-list hire and an early win. It’s ambitious, bold, and refreshes the brand—a Champions League winner with tactical genius and a reputation for authority clashes. For years, the narrative has been that England just needs a winner. Well, now they’ve got one. Who wouldn’t want to watch this?
One possible criticism is that Tuchel represents an “external hire,” someone from outside the system. International sport is supposed to test your own development pathway. Tuchel, a product of Germany’s coaching school, embodies its success over the past two decades. He learned under Ralf Rangnick at Ulm, coached under him, and got his big break at Mainz after Jürgen Klopp. What does this say about English football other than the fact that it hasn’t produced coaches of the same caliber?
The paradox is that Tuchel reflects exactly what English football has become at its highest level: a global hub for expertise from elsewhere. England’s national team DNA, its possession-based system, aligns with the style Tuchel has adapted himself. Not having a distinct national coaching culture makes it easier to integrate top talent like him.
So, welcome home, Thomas. We’ve been expecting you.
There will be concerns about tone, too. Tuchel is an obsessive, detail-oriented systems manager, a self-proclaimed “uber-nerd” when it comes to coaching. How will this translate to the rhythm of international football? Tuchel views coaching as a vocation, with an intensity that leads him to snap at silly questions or impose quirky rules, like requiring players to make eye contact or avoid using surnames. How will that energy play out during the long months when the job mainly involves meeting Prince William and giving talks at catering colleges?
England is also chaotic—tournaments are intense, issues are constant. In this regard, Tuchel’s biggest credential might be his first year at Chelsea, where he managed to steer a fragmented squad to Champions League glory, despite the feeling that everything was falling apart around him. Tuchel thrives in chaos—and chaos is something England has in abundance.
What’s often overlooked is Tuchel’s ability to speak with clarity and warmth during challenging times. In the thick of Covid-19 and the fallout from the Chelsea ownership crisis, he emerged as a voice of reason. During the early weeks of the Russia-Ukraine war, he was one of the few public figures openly discussing its implications, even if he was doing so in a beanie while talking to Joe Cole and Jake Humphrey.
Tuchel excels in high-pressure situations, never more convincing than when he’s looking wild-eyed, arms flailing, feeding off the frenzy around him. Win the games, and everything else tends to fall into place. Tuchel is as good at winning those crucial matches as anyone England could realistically hire.
It may not end in triumph—because it rarely does—but on most levels, this appointment makes sense. And for the levels where sense tends to vanish, well, that’s the nature of the job.