Thomas Tuchel officially starts his role as head coach of the England senior men’s team today.
The German has made clear his only goal for the 18 months he is contracted to be in charge of the Three Lions is to add ‘a second star’ or more simply put, to win the World Cup.
As with every manager who takes charge of the England team, the pressure and scrutiny is going to be on Tuchel from the moment he walks through the doors of St George’s Park.
Tuchel’s build up to World Cup
One of the first challenges that Tuchel had to face – even before he started the role – was the questions about why he did not take over for the November international break and why he let interim head coach Lee Carsley take charge of those games.
If Carsley had not secured a win in Greece, Tuchel’s first match would have been a Nations League play-off match and not the World Cup qualifiers which he said is the reason he took the job.
Tuchel made clear in his announcement news conference that he wanted to start in January so he had 18 months to focus on winning the World Cup and he also joked he only usually lasts around that time in his club jobs.
Tuchel has seven international windows to work out what he wants to do with the team and what he thinks will be the best set-up to get success.
He repeatedly used the word ‘group’ when referring to the England team and is putting on emphasis on results immediately so there could be shocks when he names his first squad as he looks to find the perfect winning formula.
Can he get the balance right?
This is Tuchel’s first venture into international management and something he referenced a few times during his unveiling.
He spoke about his love of the two or three days before a match and said how he and his staff “will heavily rely” on it as there isn’t much training time in international management.
However, the World Cup qualifiers have been kind to Tuchel.
The games in March, his first in charge, against Albania and Latvia are at home and unusually he will have a lot of time on the training pitch with his squad without the complication of travel to another country.
He said his England side “should play an attacking style and we should try to emphasise a physical side of the game” and he will have time to try to implement that game plan during his first international window as head coach.
How he will do that remains to be seen. Will he be able to solve the problem of fitting all of England’s talented players into the same side or will be take the brave decision to leave some of the world-class talent out?
Is Harry Kane an automatic starter? How do you play Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham in the same side? Tuchel is going to have to find answers fast.
Are there some players he may give a chance to?
Towards the end of Gareth Southgate’s reign as England manager, some were critical of his squad selections he made, saying he was too loyal to certain players.
Interim head coach Carsley has helped the turnover of the squad by using the youngsters who did so well for him in the U21s and has widened the pool of players who have senior experience with the England team.
The interesting thing for Tuchel will be how many of those players he will continue to pick and whether he opts for senior players he knows well.
Ben White made himself unavailable for England selection after the World Cup in Qatar when he left the squad but, once he recovers from injury for his club side at Arsenal, he could become a solid option in the England backline.
Ben Chilwell has been frozen out at Chelsea but Tuchel knows him well after his time as manager there and Chilwell was in the side that won the Champions League at Chelsea.
Harry Kane recently played under Tuchel whilst he was in charge of Bayern Munich with the manager saying how he fought to bring him to the club.
Kane was criticised in the Euros for his performances but is England’s record scorer and working under a manager who he scored 44 goals for (in just 45 games) can’t be a bad thing.
There could also be a surprise England recall for Eric Dier who is currently on 49 England caps. The defender also played under Tuchel at Bayern and played in some of the biggest games of the season under him and the coach could look to lean on his experience.
Does he have to win the World Cup?
Tuchel has set this target himself and is not shying away from the goal.
England do have an incredible amount of attacking talent and, after failing to win in the finals of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024, maybe Tuchel is the man to get them over the line.
Tuchel intends to hit the ground running and is set to watch matches the first weekend he officially takes on the role of head coach.
His support staff are still being finalised but the Football Association are backing him, with goalkeeping coach Hilario set to join the England backroom team.
Some have criticised the fact the FA have chosen not to pick an English coach to lead the national team but if Tuchel, a proven winner, helps England to lift their first major trophy since 1966, that won’t be mentioned.