It’s official: Thomas Tuchel will be England’s men’s next coach. No-one — not even the tabloids — predicted this. Interim manager Lee Carsley was still the frontrunner, even after that chastening, guileless loss to Greece. This appointment suggests that Carsley was never really in contention anyway.
In many ways, Tuchel is the less typical choice. Spain’s recent Euro triumph came under Luis de la Fuente, who reached the role through age-grade management. So did Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni (and so, as it happens, did Gareth Southgate.) Tuchel isn’t like them. He arrives in the job a genuinely celebrated manager, a Champions League winner, a marquee appointment: a Galáctico, so to speak. He’s famously intense, both in terms of his tactical fascination and with his attitude towards his charges in training.So Tuchel will bring high expectations — but he’ll fall under the even higher expectations of those watching. He’ll be expected to win silverware, and soon. They call it ‘the impossible job’ for a reason: the hopes, the noise, the unfathomable attention of the fans and press, who can turn viciously in an instant — and some have already turned against him, because Tuchel is a German. Pardon the French, but, plus ça change…
“Thomas Tuchel Chelsea” by Анна Мейер is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.